Mighty Ducks 1. Natalia and Luigi

New story. I have a lot of ideas for this one; I just don't know which ones to use and how I should put them all together. It's going to be alternating POVs. It's mostly a Luis/OC fic, but I'm going to try to get a lot of the other Ducks in, too. There's a small reference to Steve Urkel and I don't own him. While we're on the subject, I don't own the Ducks or anything like that. The name for the story came from the Otown song. Also, I had this idea for Connie/Portman. Sounds crazy, I know, but just go with it.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
A new year at Eden Hall Academy. Oh joyous. This year I was in a three-person room with Goldberg and Dwayne. That should definitely be interesting, since I didn't really know either of them. I could tell you maybe their favorite colors; pastimes; foods; but I really didn't know them. I didn't really know any of the Ducks very well. Right then and there, I decided that this year that was going to change. It was junior year, marking the fifth year I would know these people, there was no reason I shouldn't know know them. After all, after we graduated, who knew if we would see each other more? And I would just regret if I called some one my friend for six years and then didn't even know them when we split apart. What kind of person knew another person for five years and-  
Suddenly, I was bumped out of my thoughts. Literally. We (the Ducks that is) had been walking across the cafeteria from breakfast, and I was getting all philosophical and didn't even notice where we were until I ran right into some girl, making her drop her books and papers everywhere. I felt bad, so I quickly dropped to my knees on the ground and helped her pick up her stuff. I didn't look at her at first because I was too busy wondering what kind of person already had books and papers when we hadn't even had our first class yet.  
"Sorry about that," I said. "Wasn't watching where I was going."  
"Don't worry about it," she told me with a small smile, revealing very white teeth.  
So I didn't.  
As I headed to my first class, I wondered if the teacher was going to be boring. Probably. It seemed like that was a requirement at Eden Hall. And it's not like economics is the most exciting subject in the first place. Oh well. I thought. Hopefully there'll be some pretty girls.  
"Okay, class, when I call your name, sit in the seat I point to." Then she went on to assign people's seats. I didn't listen, but I kept an ear out for my name. And of course, I was called last.  
"Luis Mendoza and Natalie Ritchterdson." She was pointing to a seat in the middle. Excellent. Seats in the back are for troublemakers, seats in the front are for smart kids, and the seats in the middle are for the invisible kids. You could do anything short of getting up and walking out and you won't get noticed. Teachers call on kids in the front because they know the answer, kids in the back to embarrass them because they're not listening. But they never call on the invisible middle kids.  
"The person you're paired with will be your partner for every assignment. You'll be paired with the same person all year, but you'll move tables every so often."  
So I'm sitting there, and I've totally forgotten there's another person at the table until she said this. Julie was giving me a desperate glance, because the guy she was paired with was checking her out and looking at her like she was meat. They'd been sitting there for two minutes and he was already trying to touch her. So I was giving him a menacing glare. Note to self: make sure she's never alone with him. It's not that I had a romantic interest in Jules. Not that I couldn't, she's beautiful, but I just don't think of her that way. She and Connie are like my sisters, and like a brother, I'm willing to maim anyone who hurts them.  
Anyway, I turn to introduce myself to my partner when I notice two things simultaneously: she's the girl I ran into coming out of breakfast, and two: that guy just put his hand on Julie's thigh. And Julie did not like it. But I didn't rush right over there first thing, because by the loud smack and red mark on the jerk's cheek, she was handling it just fine. But I was looking over there and not paying attention to Natalia or whatever that girl's name was.  
"So, um, I'm Natalie." She said. I gave her a nod. What was that guy saying? Natalie tried to strike up the conversation again. But this time it worked.  
"So, is she your girlfriend, uh-" she glanced at my notebook to see my name. "Luigi?" That sure got my attention.  
"Luigi?" I asked. Kind of loud.  
"Isn't that your name?"  
"Uh, no. My name is Luis." Luigi? Where did that come from?  
"Oh! I thought that 's' was a 'g' and I was sure your name wasn't Luig so I added an extra 'i', I guess. Sorry."  
"Um, no problem. Sorry for running into you this morning."  
"Oh, don't worry about that." I looked at my notebook and noticed yeah, my penmanship sucked. Another note to self: work on handwriting. So I looked at her notebook. Her handwriting was great. All the letters were perfect. Humph.  
"So, is that your girlfriend?" She said again.  
"No, she's just my friend from the Ducks. She's kinda like a sister to me and I don't want that jerk hurting her."  
"The Ducks?" Natalie asked curiously.  
"Oh, you must be new!" Okay, so I'm a little overconfident. But hey, I figured everybody knew the Ducks by now.  
"Actually, I've been going to Eden Hall for three years now. We had freshman bio together."  
"Wait. You've been here three years and you don't know the Ducks?" I had this really incredulous look on my face and a matching tone in my voice.  
"I don't really follow sports." she offered.  
"But come on! The Eden Hall Warriors are now the Eden Hall Mighty Ducks! You honestly don't know where that came from?" Maybe I was overreacting, but it was really bothering me. How could someone go to school here for three years and not know the Ducks? Natalie bit her lip and started busting up.  
"Of course I know the Ducks!" She said. All right. "Everyone knows the Ducks!"  
"But, you said-"  
"I was just kidding. Jeez, you sure get worked up easily, Luigi!" Now I had this smile on my face. I couldn't describe what I was feeling, but I was starting to crush on this girl. She was funny. But then, just as I was about to throw one of my patented girl-getting lines, the bell rang. Natalie stood up and said,  
"See ya tomorrow, Luigi." As I walked out, I wondered how long she was going to call me that. Then I realized I didn't really care. I actually kind of liked it.  
Julie caught up with me, almost in tears.  
"Jules! Are you okay?"  
"No!" She shouted. Okay, these were angry, frustrated tears. "That stupid creep wouldn't back off! So then I told Ms. Heathers and she said I was taking it too far! She said I should just learn to get along with him!"  
"Aw, man." I said sympathetically. "So, what's his name? I'll go after him!" Julie smiled then.  
"Yeah, right, Luis. He was only what, thirty pounds heavier than you?"  
"So? I could take him!" She laughed.  
"You seemed to be getting along with your partner very well," Julie said with a raised eyebrow. And I couldn't help it-I blushed.  
"Luis! You're blushing!"  
"Am not!" I yelled, hiding my face. Julie was laughing at me again when Dwayne walked up.  
"Hey ya'll! What's so funny?" he asked.  
"Luis has a crush on his economics partner!"  
"I do not!" I don't know why I was denying it. Dwayne took one look at my face and knew Julie was right. But instead of laughing, he just shrugged.  
"So who is she?" He asked, interested.  
"Natalie Ritchterdson." I'd given up and saying her name made the blush deepen.  
"Oh, I know her! Yeah, she's really nice." But a look passed between Dwayne and Julie.  
"What?" I asked. "What?"  
"Well, Luis, it's just.she's not quite, um," Julie looked to Dwayne to help her out.  
"She's not the kind of girl you usually date," he supplied.  
"Well what's that supposed to mean?" I squeaked indignantly.  
"You usually date the beautiful cheerleader girls." Julie said delicately.  
"Are you saying Natalie's not beautiful?" I asked threateningly.  
"No! It's just that, she's kind of.chubby." I thought back to seeing her at breakfast. Hadn't really seen her. Thought to class. Okay, so she was a little big. So what? She was still cute.  
"So?" Julie and Dwayne both looked surprised.  
"Why, Luis Mendoza, I believe we just discovered something about you today! You're not shallow!" Julie clapper her hands and jumped up and down.  
"You thought I was shallow?" I was a little hurt. Julie was at a loss for words, so Dwayne stepped up to bat.  
"Well, you just always dated the girls who seemed perfect, ya know?" Strike one.  
"So that makes me shallow?"  
"Well, no, but you dated so many of them." Strike two. I could feel my face heating up again.  
"So just because all the girls I dated before had perfect bodies, I'm shallow?" Dwayne didn't say anything this time, and that was strike three.  
"Whatever," I said coolly. "See you guys at lunch." And I stomped off. I thought back to all my girlfriends. There had to be at least one who didn't have perfect looks. Um, that one girl, what was her name? Samantha. Oh, yeah. She had a mole on her neck. But it was really small and hard to notice, and plus, it was just a mole, so she doesn't count. Who else? Laura had had a crooked tooth. But it was in the back and no one really ever saw it. And who could forget the infamous Mindy? ? Her name was Mindy, right? Mindy was definitely perfect. On the outside, anyway. Who was I kidding? I was shallow. Great, so everybody knows it. Disgusted with myself, I shook my head and walked into the cafeteria.  
Sitting between Averman and Portman is interesting. On one side, you get a bunch of crappy jokes. On the other, you hear talk of Metallica and the like. But Portman was also trying talking to Connie about stuff Connie wanted to talk about-classes, clothes, stuff like that, though he wasn't really succeeding. And over all, the talk of hockey was all around. I was looking around absently, thinking, when I saw Natalie. She was sitting with three other girls, and she saw me, too. She smiled and waved to me. Excited, I waved back with a huge grin, accidentally knocking over Portman's Coke. Natalie saw and was cracking up. I covered my face with my hands, resulting in my elbow landing in Averman's refried beans. Why right then did smooth Luis Mendoza have to be replaced with my inner Steve Urkel?  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
Luis was so cute. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to get paired with him. At lunch, I went out on a limb and waved to him, and he waved back! I couldn't believe it. And it was so hilarious when he knocked over his friend's pop. I felt a little bad because he was obviously embarrassed, but I couldn't help busting up again when he got his elbow in whatever it was on the tray next to him. The look on his face was priceless as he grabbed a napkin and started swiping at his arm, and then thwacked his friend across the face on accident. My roommate Elisha saw the whole thing, and how my eyes were lingering on Luis's face, and gave me an appalled look.  
"Natalie, please. He's got half the girls in school hanging all over him, and he's dated and dumped the other half. He's a total jerk, and obviously very clumsy. You do not want to get mixed up with him." I gave her a tolerant smile, but she was wrong. I would give almost anything to get mixed up with him. Elisha knew what I was thinking and rolled her eyes.  
"He's going to break your heart, and when he does, I'll break his jaw." That made me laugh. Elisha was quite possibly the wimpiest girl in the world.  
"Thanks," I said. For the gesture, because I knew she would never actually hit anybody. Elisha shook her head.  
"Just think about what I said, okay?"  
"Sure," I said, not meaning it at all. "Of course I will."  
  
~*Russ's POV*~  
After Luis's traumatic experience, he stomped off to the dorm before his next class. Probably to change his shirt. I noticed how he kept glancing at some girl, and mentioned it as soon as he was gone.  
"Hey guys, who's that girl Luis keeps looking at?" A burst of laughter came snorting out of Julie. I gave her a weird look, because in all five years that I'd known her, I'd never heard her snort before.  
"That's Natalie," Dwayne said. Then he looked conspiratorially over his shoulder and confided, "Luis has a big crush on her!"  
"No way!" I crowed. "Which one is she?" Dwayne pointed, and Charlie asked,  
"Hey Cowboy, sure you got the right girl?"  
"Yeah," Dwayne answered. "Don't say anything to Luis, though. He'll get all mad at ya for no reason!"  
"Actually," Julie broke in. "He got mad because we told him he was shallow. Not outright, but, well, no one likes to be called shallow."  
"Well, she's really nice," Ken declared. We all just kind of looked at him. "What?"  
"Luis? Going after that girl? Because she's 'nice'? I don't know; there's got to be an ulterior motive." I looked around and saw my friends agreeing with me.  
"Guys, that's not really fair," Ken piped in again. He always looked for the good in people. "People can change, you know. And besides, those other girls were nice, too. Well, except for Mindy." Adam started laughing hysterically, out of the blue. Connie scooted her chair a few inches closer to Portman and asked kindly,  
"Adam? Are you all right?" He was laughing so hard he couldn't speak, so he just pointed. Luis had just walked into the lunchroom, wearing a shirt that was maybe two sizes too big. When he approached the table, he didn't look at any of us.  
"Is that my shirt?" Goldberg asked.  
"Uh, yeah."  
"Why are you wearing it?"  
"I didn't have any more clean shirts." I looked at him incredulously.  
"Luis, we haven't even been here for a full day!"  
"I know, but see, I was in a hurry to pack, because I didn't pack until the day of my flight, and I just stuffed all my clothes into my bags, even if they weren't clean."  
"But.didn't your mom come in and take your clothes and wash them?" Dwayne asked. "That's what my momma does." Luis stared at his feet.  
"Uh, no, I do my own laundry," he said, not looking up at all. There was more to this story, I could tell, but the bell rang and Luis left quickly.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
Okay, so I lied to my friends. But I didn't want them to feel sorry for me. Truth is, my mom left before I did. Only not for the school year. Forever, according to her.  
  
Flashback  
I heard the door slam shut and wandered down to see what was going on. A note was on the counter, so I picked it up and read it.  
  
Luis-  
Couldn't handle you anymore. Don't know where I'm going, but I'm not coming back.  
  
I hauled all my crap over to my grandma's house down the street. I knocked on the door, looking all pitiful, and she shook her head.  
"Don't expect me to pay air fare for you to go back to that fancy school of yours," was the first thing she said.  
"I already have a plane ticket," I assured her, taking my stuff up to the spare bedroom. I stayed there probably as much as I stayed at my own house, since my mom was always running off. She always came back in two weeks at the most, which was why I was so unconcerned about the whole thing. I mean, Mother of the Year wasn't in her future or past.  
"Well, in that case, don't bother coming to visit during your breaks because I know you don't have the money to get here and I'm certainly not paying!" What a charming woman my grandmother was. She lingered for a few more minutes, complaining that she always got stuck with me when I drove my mom away, then finally left, slamming the door after her. I slumped on my bed, feeling sorry for myself, before thinking, only a month and a half. Then I'll be with the Ducks again. They're my real family anyway.  
  
End of Flashback  
  
The one thing different about my mom running off that time was that she really didn't come back. So excuse me if I wasn't exactly a little ray of sunshine.  
I was unbearably embarrassed as I walked into economics the next day. Natalie had seen me make a fool of myself. But when I got there, she wasn't looking. She was bent over, writing. As I stood in the doorway, looking like an idiot and watching, she pushed her brown hair off her face and tilted her head as she studied her work. A frown passed her face and she erased furiously, then sent her pencil scrabbling again. This time she looked satisfied, but not completely happy, and pushed the notebook into her backpack. She saw me and smiled.  
"Hey, Luigi, you gonna come sit down or am I gonna have to do all the work?" A grin split my face and I said,  
"Well, I'll sit down, but you still have to do all the work!" She laughed as I sat down. That laugh brought bubbles to my stomach and a smile to my face. The same smile that had continually flickered on and off my face for the past 24 hours.  
"I should have expected that from a jock!"  
"I resent that." She laughed, and I changed the subject. "So, anyway, I need a nickname for you. Something to use against you when you call me Luigi."  
"You don't like when I call you Luigi?"  
"Oh, it's not that. I just think it's only fair."  
"All right. So, did you think my name was something else at first?"  
"Well." I thought, posing for her by stroking my chin. She laughed again and I confided, "I did think your name was Natalia." Natalie snorted.  
"Natalia?"  
"Yes." She stuck out her hand.  
"Okay then. Here we are: Natalia and Luigi!" Jules had been passing then, and gave us a strange look. I laughed.  
"So, Natalia, how would you like to eat lunch with my friends and I? You could bring your friends with you." She made a face.  
"Those girls I sit with aren't my friends. But I guess I'll take you up on your offer. If you don't think your friends will mind."  
"Oh, they won't care. And if they do, too bad!" She grinned and said,  
"I would love to sit with you. The dynamic duo, Natalia and Luigi, united again!"  
  
Okay, kind of a stupid chapter and it was really long. But I needed to get things rolling. The next chapter is in progress. I love reviews, hint hint! 


	2. Troubles of the Heart

A/N: Don't own the Ducks, blah blah blah. Anyway, I noticed that in the last chapter I switched a few times from past tense to present tense. Sorry if that bugged anyone. Sorry it took a while to update, too. My computer crashed or something and I just downloaded Microsoft Word again. Also, I changed the name and I lost the other first chapter so I can't change anything. . .um, the new name is from the song by Mark Chesnutt. There's also an Aerosmith version, but I like the country version better, even if they aren't really different.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
As we headed into lunch, I tried to find out as much about Natalie as possible.  
"Who's your best friend?" I asked her.  
"I, uh, don't really have one," she told me, not looking at my face. "I don't really have any friends," she said quietly. I looped my arm through hers and said,  
"Well, now you do. The team will feel the same way." She smiled and said,  
"Thanks." I changed the subject again.  
"Do you play any sports or anything?"  
"I dance."  
"Dance?"  
"Yeah. Ballet and jazz, and some hip-hop too. It depends on the song and who choreographs it. Like sometimes. . ." she went to talk about her dancing all the way to the lunch table, and I couldn't help but notice that her face glowed when she got on the subject of dance.  
"Luis, who's this?" Jules was teasing me by pretending not to know who Natalie was. I gave her a slightly dirty look, and said loudly,  
"Guys, this is Natalie. Natalie, this is the Ducks." She smiled at everyone, but didn't say much. She had a shy expression on her face, but soon she was at ease with the team. I watched her talk and laugh with my friends and felt myself falling.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
Luis was so great. I don't know why, but I told him about my practically friend-less life. And he said I was his friend, and that we could share his friends. And Luis had great friends. I was shy at first, but they treated me the same way they treated each other. I remember one time, I walked by them in the hall and overheard them talking about "Ducks stick together." I'd wondered about it, because it was so easy to make new friends and grow apart from others. But talking to them, watching them interact with each other and other friends they had, I understood. The fact that they'd gone through all the stuff they had made their friendship stronger than any of mine had ever been.  
"Natalie, where do you usually sit?" One of the girls asked me. I think her name was Connie.  
"Over there," I said, pointing out the table.  
"Oh, you're friends with Elisha?" I could see her face struggling to stay neutral, but I could tell she didn't like Elisha.  
"Kind of. She's my roommate. She acts real friendly sometimes, but other times she treats me like her worst enemy." I didn't know why I was telling her this, it's not like she cared, no one ever did, but she had such an open look on her face. Plus, I wanted so badly to talk to someone like a friend.  
"Gotcha." She said with a smile.  
"What are you talking about?" Her boyfriend asked. I shrunk a little, because I wasn't sure I wanted this big guy to know about my problems. Connie winked at me and said,  
"Just girl stuff." He looked kind of uncomfortable, making us laugh as we watched him use his imagination about what kind of 'girl stuff' we were talking about. He didn't even look at who was next to him before he started the conversation.  
  
~*Guy's POV*~  
My heart ached as I watched Connie laugh with Natalie. I hadn't exactly been pining over her since the breakup, but I was starting to feel how much I missed her. Portman had asked me if it was all right for them to go out, and I had told him it was fine. And it had been. I'd dumped her, after all, so I wasn't feeling too much pain. Yeah, that surprised everyone. Guy Germaine was not only managing to live without his precious Connie Moreau, but he was the one who called it off. Except now I wasn't having much success living without her. She was the only girl I'd ever kissed, and now I'd given her an excuse to go lip-lock with anyone she wanted. I'm such an idiot.  
"Hey, Guy, you okay?" Goldberg wasn't the person generally thought of as perceptive and sensitive, but he was the only one who knew how badly I was hurting after all this.  
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, but then burst out with, "You know, it's only been six weeks since we broke up, and she already has a boyfriend. Not only that, but she doesn't seem to be hurting at all!"  
"Look, if you like her so much, why did you break up with her in the first place?" I glared at him because I couldn't think of a reason. Truth was, I'd broken up with her just to see how she'd take it. Very easily, apparently.  
"I just needed a little change, is all."  
"Then why don't you try to change back? You know you need to." I sighed.  
"Goldberg. . .She's so happy. And I can't just go up and say, Connie, I want you back. What about Portman? She probably won't even take me back now."  
"All I'm saying is, you're so miserable, you should at least try. Portman would understand, surely. And if not, they're only arms and legs."  
"Thanks, Goldie," I said with a hollow laugh. I had been thinking about trying to get back together with her for about five weeks and six days, but when she hooked up with Portman. . .I lost my nerve. She was worth losing limbs over, that's for sure.  
  
~*Fulton's POV*~  
I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on Guy and Goldberg, but I was sitting right there, and it wasn't exactly a stimulating conversation about hot dogs on the other side of me. When I heard that Guy was going to try to get Connie back, I wanted to yell at him right on the spot. But I restrained myself, settling with talking to Portman later.  
"Portman. Dude, we need to talk." I had to jog to catch up with him, but was lucky enough to catch him when he wasn't immersed in Connie. I didn't even see Connie anywhere. Probably off making out with Guy or something.  
"Sure, bro, whatever. Later, though. Gotta catch Connie."  
"Yeah, okay," I said, but he was already gone, leaving me to try to find out a good way to tell my best friend to keep an eye out for another one of our good friends trying to steal his girl.  
  
~*Goldberg's POV*~  
I was torn. I told Guy to go for it. To try to get Connie back. To get her back from Portman. Not my best advice ever. But even while I was thinking about how Guy could get killed from getting back with Connie, I couldn't help but notice that everyone was hooking up. Except me.  
"Goldie, come on!" Averman yelled. I was standing in the middle of the deserted hallway. I walked slowly to class, and Averman said,  
"You seem a little out of it today, man."  
"You have no idea," I told him with a shake of my head.  
  
Coming out of history, I was still hung up on the whole Guy/Connie/Portman thing. If you thought about it, Portman and Connie were so wrong together. But it actually worked, didn't it? Did it work well enough that Guy was out of the picture. . .forever?  
  
~*Portman's POV*~  
Before I got a chance to talk to Fulton again, I was on my date with Connie. I was more nervous than I had ever been, because I was planning on dumping her. I wanted to let her down gently, because she was my friend, and I was going to have to go through this whole year and next year with her on the team. That would be kind of awkward.  
"Portman, this is great!" She exclaimed, making me wince. I'd taken her to a little '50s café, and she was loving every minute of it. Way too much. It felt forced to me, and I found myself hoping she hated it. That would make the task ahead of me way easier.  
"Connie. . ." She caught my tone and gave me a rueful tone.  
"Over the top?"  
"I want to break up." She fell silent.  
"Oh."  
"It's just. . .we're not right for each other."  
"Yeah." She wouldn't even look at me.  
"I'm sorry," I offered. She only nodded.  
"Can we please leave?"  
  
~*Connie's POV*~  
I felt like such a loser. No one wanted to date me anymore. Guy, who I thought I'd be with forever, had dumped me. Then, with Portman, we were so different we were perfect. Nope. He dumped me, too. I was sitting in my room, wallowing in tears and self-pity, when Jules came home.  
"Connie, what's wrong?" She asked immediately.  
"Portman b-broke up with me," I sobbed. "And it's still only a month and a half after Guy did!" I was crying not just about Portman. I was still hurting from Guy. Jules came over and sat on my bed, pulling me in for a hug.  
"Hey, it'll be okay," Jules said, trying to soothe me. "So we'll both fly solo for a while, okay? We'll have an endless amount of girls' nights out. And we'll invite some other friends, too, sometimes. You'll forget all about stupid Portman and stupid Guy." I nodded, still feeling awful.  
"Come on." She pulled me off my bed, despite my resistance.  
"I don't want to go anywhere."  
"Too bad for you, huh? We're going."  
"Well, where are we going?"  
"Out." Great. Now she was being vague.  
"Out where?"  
"I dunno. But we will forget about boys. Repeat after me: I will not think of boys for the rest of the night. Come on, say it."  
"I will not think of boys for the rest of the night." My version was infinitely less enthusiastic than Julie's.  
"So, what should we wear? Well, first, we have to decide where to go. . ." she went on and on, excited. We hadn't hung out for a while.  
"Hey-do you think we should invite Natalie?" I asked her, surprising even myself.  
"That's a great idea!" Jules latched on to the idea. "You know, Luis has a crush on her! Yeah, so we'll be seeing more of her for sure. For a while, anyway. But I think maybe she could be the real thing. He actually blushed when we were talking about her after class! And he doesn't even seem to care that she's, you know." I did know. I'd been totally surprised when he'd brought her to lunch.  
"Do you know where her room is?" I interrupted Julie as she got sidetracked and started talking about how the economics teacher was, ahem, not one of her favorites.  
"Oh, crap. No, I don't."  
"All I know is she's rooming with Elisha."  
"Alicia Dawnts?"  
"No, Elisha Reys. As in 'I'm so perfect and my name is Elisha.' You know her?"  
"Oh, yeah. I hate her!"  
"Me too! But Natalie said she's okay sometimes. But she didn't say they were friends."  
"Well, I know where Elisha's room is." That surprised me.  
"You do?"  
"Mm-hmm. Uh, she kinda went out with Scooter, so I had a little visit to her room. . .while she wasn't there." I laughed out loud. Jules was making me feel better all ready.  
"Well, lets go get her."  
"Yup."  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
I was sitting in my room, doing nothing, all bored and everything. And Luis was sneaking into my thoughts. It's not like I could help it. But I was soo glad Elisha wasn't here. Like I told Connie, Elisha was kind of mean. Sometimes she was really nice, but other times it was like, what is your problem? I was thinking of calling Luis. We'd exchanged dorm numbers.  
"Well, we'll need to get together sometimes to study," he'd said, shifting and looking at his feet, looking totally dorky and extremely cute. But just as I grabbed the phone, a knock scared the crap out of me and I jumped like a foot in the air. And speak of the devil-there was Luis.  
"Luigi? What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.  
"I was really bored, and um, I thought we could do something." I bit my lip, playing with him.  
"Well. . .sure!" He laughed.  
"Why do you do that to me?!" He asked with a wild grin.  
"Do what?" I asked right back.  
"Tease me!"  
"Oh, well, you know. . .you make it so easy." And then, while we were laughing, scaring me again, a voice jumped out of the shadows.  
"Are you guys touching each other's butts?" Julie was teasing, even I could tell, but both of us blushed anyway.  
"Um, so anyway," Connie broke in. I noticed she was looking a little watery. "Natalie, we were wondering if you wanted to come see a movie with us and then just hang out. Kind of a girl's night out. Oh, unless you guys are doing something," she said, biting her lip. We all turned to Luis, who looked pleased.  
"No, go ahead! Get to know each other, do whatever!" He sounded genuinely excited, and I shot him a grateful look. He knew it was hard for me to make friends, so he was helping me out. He seemed to do a lot of that.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
Okay, I was a little bummed that I wouldn't get to hang out with Natalie. But I desperately wanted my friends to like her, and for her to have friends, and if I gave them the go-ahead, it would kill two birds with one stone. Besides, it would let me hang out with Goldberg and Dwayne. We needed some 'roomy bonding', according to Dwayne, who'd gotten all excited. I opened the door, and Goldberg immediately latched onto me.  
"Luis! Save me! The cowboy is crazy!" Then, in an undertone, he added, "And watch out tonight. Dwayne mentioned something about shaving cream and feathers. I think he's still a little sore about the Games." Just then, Dwayne ran out of the bathroom, in his pajamas, his cowboy hat still firmly in place, and shouted,  
"All right! Come on, boys, let's have us a regular ol' hoe-down!" Goldberg just stared, a gagging sound coming from him, and I burst out laughing. What else could I do? I was doubled up laughing, Goldberg looked horrified, and Dwayne was grinning like an idiot. I hoped Natalie was having as a good a time as I was. 


	3. See You Later, Michael

~*Natalie's POV*~  
Hanging out with Connie and Julie was more fun than I'd expected. We saw some movie I couldn't remember the name of but I do remember it had a pretty hot guy in it. Luis was hotter. Maybe he would ask me out and we would be girlfriend and boyfriend-oh crap! I had a boyfriend! How could I forget about Michael?  
"Oh, I'm awful, I'm a horrible person, I'm rotten, I'm disgusting!" I moaned as I dialed Michael's number. His deep bass voice made me feel any worse. I should be happy that anyone would want to date me, and I got a great boyfriend and forgot about him just because he didn't go to my school and I found a great guy (who wasn't hard on the eyes, either) who did.  
"Michael, I'm so sorry I didn't call you, but you know how the first few days of school can be. Can you forgive me?" There was a pause.  
"Nats?" He asked. He always called me Nats or Nat, but I never called him Mike. He was Michael, and I never had given him a nickname.  
"Yeah, who else would it be, silly?"  
"I just was a little surprised you called me," he mumbled. "Anyway, so how has school been so far?"  
"Great! I made some friends."  
"You did?" He sounded more surprised than happy for me. Luis would never-no. That wasn't fair. Michael was my boyfriend; Luis was just a boy who was my friend.  
"Uh, yeah." Why was it so surprising?  
"Well, that's cool. You're sure they're not just after your money?" Yeah, because they could never like me for me.  
"I don't think so. It is a prep school, after all. Most the people here have more money than I do."  
"Yeah." We lapsed into silence, having run out of things to talk to.  
"Um, well, I better go," I said. "I have to get to bed for curfew."  
"Yeah." Okay, so Michael wasn't quite brilliant. But he was sweet.  
"I'll talk to you later, okay?" I needed to get off the phone with him. I needed to think.  
"Yeah. Love you." He said innocently. I hesitated, then tossed my doubts aside.  
"Love you, too."  
  
~*Julie's POV*~  
Natalie was a lot more fun when it was just the three of us. I guess she was really shy or something. We got back to the dorms with plenty of time to spare before curfew, because I still wanted to spend some time alone with Connie. Since she'd broken up with Portman, I knew she'd need it.  
"Hey, you had fun tonight, right?" I asked her as we were getting ready for bed.  
"Yeah." She answered quietly.  
"Who cares about stupid Portman, anyway?" I burst out. I know, I know, she still did, but she shouldn't. And besides, she needed to get over him quick so she could get back together with Guy, which would undoubtedly happen.  
"I do," I heard her whisper.  
"Well, stop caring! He's not worth your time, your tears, or your heart. Got it?" She gave me a small, grateful smile.  
"Mmkay. Thanks, Jules." Our phone rang its jangling ring, jarring both of us out of our best friend moment. We just kind of sat there, staring at it uncertainly. No one really got a lot of phone calls besides their parents, and no parent would call this late, so who could it be?  
"Hello?" I said when I finally answered, after three or four rings.  
"Hey, did Natalie seem like she was having fun? I tried calling her to ask but her line was busy and I kept trying but it was busy every time." I was shocked to hear Luis calling to check up on a girl. That surprise didn't stop me from rolling my eyes at Connie and mouth 'It's Natalie's lover boy, making sure she had fun.' Connie shook her head and laughed a little.  
"Uh, yeah, I'm sure she had fun. It seemed like it to me."  
"Awesome! Were you guys nice to her?"  
"Of course we were!" I replied, a little indignantly.  
"Well, sorry for being concerned! Jeez, what bunched up your hosiery?" I had to laugh at that incredibly weird insult.  
"You are such a freak," I said, while still managing to sound affectionate.  
"Boy, aren't you kind?"  
"Speaking of boys, we have to get off the phone. Ms. Hulif is down the hall, almost to our door." Ms. Hulif was the dorm supervisor, and I knew she was there because I could hear her loud, glumping footsteps in the hall. I hung up on Luis and scrambled into bed, managing to cover myself with the blanket while she fumbled with the keys so she could make sure we were in bed. Ever since Connie got caught with Guy in the room after curfew last year, we'd been getting special bed checks. When the door creaked open, I snapped my eyes shut and made my breathing even. I could hear her thumping around in the room and felt her sour breath in my face. I hated that woman with a burning fury.  
  
~*Michael's POV*~  
(Natalie's boyfriend)  
After I hung up with Natalie, I went back to my homework, waiting for Jessica's call. Jessica was the girl I went out with when Natalie was away at school. Jessica knew this and didn't care, but Natalie would, so I didn't tell her. Maybe going out wasn't the right term. We didn't really go out much, if you know what I mean. Hey, Jessica was happy to give me what Natalie wouldn't. And what Natalie didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Much.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
By the end of class the next day, I'd summed up all my courage. I was going to ask her out.  
"Hey, Natalia. I was wondering, what are you doing Friday night?" She looked up from her book.  
"Hmmm. . .?"  
"Friday night. Do you have any plans?"  
"Yeah, I'm going out with Michael." Excuse me?  
"Michael who?"  
"My boyfriend Michael." Oh, flying pianos. She had a boyfriend?  
"Oh." Was all I could muster.  
"Yeah, and I haven't seen him since August, so I really miss him!"  
"Uh, well, yeah, of course you do. Because, he's your boyfriend. And, you love him, right?" I had to force that last question out.  
"Yeah," she said, an unreadable expression on her face. I took it as dreamy. When the bell finally rang after the longest fifteen minutes of my life, I dashed out, stopping when I heard Natalie call out for me.  
"Hey, Luigi, are we still eating with your friends?" Her voice was tentative, like she wasn't sure she should ask for fear of intruding. I pasted a smile on and said smoothly,  
"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't we? But, you know, they're your friends now, too." I really did want her to sit with me. Not because they were her friends too. Because even if she had a boyfriend (it made me ache to think that name with her not linked to me) I still wanted to date her. And even if she didn't want to date me, I still wanted to be around her. Who knew? Maybe I'd get lucky and her boyfriend would get jealous. He'd think she was cheating on him and dump her. But I shouldn't have wished that, because a variation of it came true. And it caused Natalie so much pain that my heart almost broke with hers.  
  
Three Weeks Later  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
Friday, I went to the hockey game. As I was getting ready to go, Elisha gave me a look.  
"You're going because of Luis Mendoza, aren't you?"  
"Not just Luis. I mean, all the Ducks are my friends. I know Luis the best, though."  
"And afterwards you're going out to eat with them, aren't you?" She asked in a cold voice.  
"Yes, they invited me to go to the diner. Why, what's wrong with that?" I struggled to keep my temper, but I was having more and more trouble putting up with Elisha. The more time I spent with Luis, the meaner she got.  
"He's going to break your heart. Really, I mean, there's only one reason he'd go out with you, and I can promise it's not you're good looks." She said the last part with a raised eyebrow and a hint of a snicker in her voice.  
"I have a boyfriend, you know. His name is Michael. And anyway, you don't even know Luis, so just shut up, okay?"  
"I've heard all about it. He goes out with you, all charming. After about two weeks or so, he tells you he loves you. Next thing you know, you wake up alone. When you see him again, he dumps you, and that's that." I shook my head, snorted, and walked out, trying my best to ignore her.  
  
~*Michael's POV*~  
I was out with Jessica, not thinking about Natalie at all. I told her I loved her every time I talked to her, in hopes that she would change her mind and sleep with me. So far, no such luck. I didn't love her. I knew that. But she loved me. And she was a great girl. Not. My friends didn't know about her. She wasn't pretty enough to show off. I mean, sure, she was cute, but my friends all dated perfect model girls. And Natalie definitely wasn't model material. Her mousy brown hair was the same long, straight style it had been since third grade, except she'd grown out her bangs. She wore loose clothes and not a lot of make up. That would still be almost okay if she were thinner. But she wasn't. So it wasn't okay. I was thinking all this while making out with Jessica in an alleyway, pressed up against a dumpster. We could hear a big group of kids coming by, but we didn't pull apart. Jessica wasn't exactly daunted by public displays of affection, and I know I wasn't. Maybe we should've though.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
We were walking down an alley, a shortcut to the diner. It was after a crushing victory to our benefit, so we were all in good spirits, laughing and joking and still high from the adrenaline. I was a little sick of talking to Natalie lately, since all she said was 'Michael this' and 'Michael that' and 'Michael's so great and perfect and I love him so much' and. . .Well, you get the point. Two people, so obviously making out against a dumpster, were blocking the way, so we had to revert to three people to walking abreast instead of like five. But then, out of nowhere, Natalie stopped.  
"M-Michael?" She sputtered. The guy, busy making out, broke away and turned to her.  
"Oh, Nats! What. . .um, what are you doing here?" But she was incapable of speech. Natalie was frozen, staring at his lips, which were covered in that girl's lip-gloss.  
"Nats, it's not like that, you know?" Still nothing from the beautiful girl next to me.  
"What's it like then?" I asked coldly, breaking the heavy silence.  
"I don't believe this is anything that concerns you. Was I talking to you?" I glared at him. He glared at me. We glared at each other.  
"Well, if it has to do with you hurting Natalie, it concerns me. Natalie happens to be my friend, and she doesn't deserve to be treated like this."  
"Oh, how cute. Natalie found herself an admirer. Well, tell you what. Stay away from my girl." I gave him an 'oh, please' roll of my eyes. Luckily, Natalie shook off her funk and interrupted.  
"Tell you what, Michael. I'm not your girl anymore. And if that hurts you, I'm sure Jessica will be happy to make it all better." Then, trembling, she turned and fled. One last angry glare, then I followed her. Secretly, I was happy I didn't have to fight this guy. In the words of Alfalfa from 'Little Rascals', usually I was a lover, not a fighter. I would have been willing to make an exception, but Natalie needed me.  
  
~*Portman's POV*~  
I felt bad. A lot. From a mixture of things, really. From dumping Connie, from being so detached lately, and mostly from not helping Luis stick up for Natalie. She'd become friends with us all, and I felt a vague sort of anger when she seemed so hurt. Not until that guy said Natalie was 'his girl' did I realize what was happening. After Luis and Natalie left, the Bash Brothers grabbed hold of the scene. It felt good to take out my anger and frustrations on somebody who totally deserved it. And he so did. I secured my bandana and gave Fulton a fist smash, on a total adrenaline high. Here we go!  
  
Okay, that wasn't a great ending. But anyway, I wanted to ask you guys if you want Bash Slash or not. If there's gonna be any slash, it'll be Bash. So tell me what you want, and I'll take it into consideration. Majority rules, people. 


	4. Beautiful Dancer

~*Natalie's POV*~  
What did I expect? Of course he was cheating on me. There had been warning signs. One time I'd called him and he'd said,  
"Hey, Jess, baby." When he realized it was me, he covered, saying he thought it was his cousin. Right. Who called their cousin 'baby' anyway? He never called me baby. Jessica was some girl from his school. My old school. I'd told Luis I'd been going to Eden Hall for three years, and that was true. But I'd transferred in the middle of freshman year. I'd known Jessica since fourth grade, and I wasn't the least bit surprised that she didn't care that a guy had a girlfriend. I'd seen Michael staring at her a few times, but he'd always said it was nothing. And I'd trusted him. I was running down the dark streets when Luis's voice rang out behind me.  
"Natalie, wait!" He yelled. I whirled around and my hair swirled around my head, whacking me in the eye. If I hadn't already been sobbing, my eyes would've started watering. Luis caught up to me and held me in a tight bear hug.  
"I just want to go back to my dorm and go to bed." I moaned, my voice muffled because my face was pressed into his chest. He smelled really good, I must say.  
"Okay. Let's go. I'll walk you." I thought dimly about protesting, telling him to go back and have fun with his friends, but my mind was just so totally overloaded that it was practically shutting down. When I got into my room, Luis gave me a last, warm, hug, and said,  
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Go to sleep and don't worry about that piece of crap. He's not worth you're time." I gave him a teary smile but didn't say anything.  
"Well, you're home early," Elisha sneered. I swiped at my eyes and sniffled.  
"Yeah, well, I ran into Michael-" she knew all about him-"and he was making out with some girl, so I really didn't feel like partying. I'm just gonna change into my pajamas and go to bed, okay? I don't feel like talking."  
"Good, because I don't really want to hear about your problems anyway." That made me cry harder. We used to be almost-friends-civil acquaintances, really-but since we'd become roommates it was like she hated me completely. I didn't have a clue why but it did bother me. A lot.  
After crying myself to sleep, I had some severely weird dreams. In the first one, I'd been walking down the street when I grew another head. People were laughing at me and pointing and I was crying because it was very painful. Next, I was dancing our new dance at the studio and suddenly my feet fell off. But they kept dancing all by themselves, very creepily. I woke up in a cold sweat after that one. And the last dream I had that night was me walking across a bridge. The bridge broke, and I was hanging and screaming for help. Michael walked by and said coldly,  
"It's your fault. You didn't wash the windows, so that's what you get." Then Jessica followed and just giggled at my fear. Finally, Luis walked by with a beautiful girl hanging all over him. He saw me, looked concerned, but told me he had to get something back if I wanted to be saved. I'd sobbed out, "Anything!" but instead of helping me, he'd laughed cruelly and pried my fingers off the bridge. When I woke up after that one, it was six o'clock on a Saturday morning, and there was no chance of me falling back to sleep. I read for a little bit, but it was hard to see the words because I was crying silently. Finally, at seven thirty, I called Karin-the owner-at the dance studio and asked if I could come in and take an extra class. I definitely needed to dance. And I was not worried that my feet would fall off.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
I stopped by Natalie's dorm on my way to breakfast, but her roommate said she wasn't there. Where would she be at nine o'clock on a Saturday morning? After breakfast, I went to her dorm again. Still not there. It was 10:30 for crying out loud. Finally, at about noon, she came to my dorm.  
"Where were you?!" I exploded. She gave me a wounded look.  
"Why do you care?"  
"I was looking everywhere for you! I was afraid you'd done something horrible to yourself over that stupid Michael guy."  
"What, poor Natalie is so insecure, if her boyfriend dumped her, she must be trying to kill herself?" Well, what do you say after that?  
"I was just worried about you," I finally got out.  
"Well, I was at dance." I let out a breath.  
"Sorry I yelled," I said, not meeting her eyes. Suddenly, I had no idea how to act around her. She was hurting, and I didn't want to say something stupid to make it worse. She roller her eyes at me.  
"Mendoza, you are such a dork!" She exclaimed. I just stared for a second. I don't know what I was more surprised about: her calling me Mendoza instead of Luigi, or her calling me a dork. "I mean, yeah, I'm all cried out about stupid Michael. But that doesn't mean I need you to baby- sit me to make sure I don't freakin kill myself!"  
"Sorry!" I said in a truly harassed voice. I really didn't mean to sound like a girl who needed her Midol. She looked like she was either about to cry or laugh.  
"Sorry," I repeated, this time sincere. "I just. . .I don't like you hurting. So I wanted to hang out so I could make you laugh." A smile graced her lips.  
"Thanks, Luigi," she nearly whispered. "That's really sweet." After a moment of awkward silence, I finally changed the subject.  
"So, you were at dance?"  
"Yeah, last night and this morning where real crap. So I needed to dance them off. That's just what I do to feel better. To deal." I nodded. Hockey was like that, sometimes. Most of the time, I could grab my skates and my gear and blissfully let the hockey take over. And for the times it didn't work, I just slammed into the boards. On purpose, actually.  
"Do you think, um. . .sometime, could I watch you dance?" I asked nervously. Was that something I could ask without seeming like a total stalker or a perverted freak? I'd never asked something like that before. She split into a real grin and said,  
"Absolutely! I have another class later today!"  
"Another one? In the same day?" Disbelief was written all over my face, making her laugh. Her dance coach person sounded like a real Captain Blood.  
"I didn't have a scheduled dance time this morning. I just went to dance. For me. Because I needed to."  
"Oh. Okay."  
"So, today at 3:45, okay?"  
"Yeah, sure." Practice would be over by three, so four would be fine.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
I couldn't believe Luis wanted to come watch me dance! And he wanted for me to be happy. This psyched me. Lots.  
"Hey watch it!" Snarled some kid I'd run into.  
"Sorry!" I said. Then I realized, oh great, it was Elisha.  
"Well, aren't you in a good mood today? Sure a turnaround from last night." She sneered at me and I so wanted to punch her in the face.  
"Yeah, well, my friends were cheering me up." It was true. There had been nine messages when I got back to my dorm. One from Julie and Connie, one from Dwayne, one from Ken, one from Guy, one from Adam, one from the whole team, and three from Luis. It was strange for me to have people calling to cheer me up. I'd never really had friends at Eden Hall. Or in Eureka, my old school district, either.  
"How sweet," Elisha snapped me out of my thoughts. "I just wanted to know if I could get a ride to dance this afternoon. My car happens to be in the shop." I gritted my teeth but forced my self to spit out,  
"Sure, Elisha. Make sure you're either in the room or out in the parking lot by 3:45, please." Another exchange of icy smiles, and I was on my way. It probably wasn't a good idea to have Elisha and Luis in the same car, but oh well.  
I wandered the halls, not sure what to do. It seemed pointless to take a shower if I was just going to dance later and get all sweaty again. I moseyed around before I heard shouts and laughter coming from the ice rink. Wonderful! I could watch Luis play hockey, and then he would come and watch me dance. I peeked in the window on the door, to see if anyone else was watching. There were tons of people, so I slipped into the bleachers unnoticed. I couldn't keep my eyes of Luis, hoping no one noticed. When he crashed into the boards, I almost ran out to him, but no one else even seemed to see it. He simply peeled himself off the ice and skated hard towards the puck. Dang, he could sure skate fast. Jeez, where was I on Friday during the game? I couldn't remember him skating this fast or crashing at all, but right before my eyes he failed to stop again and sailed into the other boards.  
"Mendoza! Get a grip!" The coach barked. I saw Luis grimace, but he didn't say anything. Just nodded and looked down. Well, come on, did the stupid coach have to be so mean? I mean, obviously my poor Luis didn't want to crash every time. Wait, my poor Luis? Where did that come from? It was definitely official. I had a crush on Luis Mendoza. Once I admitted that to myself, my cheeks started to flame, and I ducked my head so no one would see. But surely there was no way he returned it. Luis could have any girl he wanted, and he most certainly did not want me. He would have asked me out, before he knew about Michael. Unless he didn't like me then, but did now. As I watched him flirt with a beautiful, skinny girl in the stands, I knew he didn't like me, and I felt like I was going to throw up, rushing out right then. Only half an hour until dance, I told myself. Hang in there.  
  
~*Elisha's POV*~  
I was not happy when Luis Mendoza joined us in the car on the way to dance. I didn't like the way he was always around Natalie, and it wasn't out of concern for her. I had everything anyone could ever want, so everyone should envy me. But, actually, there was one thing I needed. Luis. He'd only gone out with a choice few, two to be exact, and practically every girl wanted to be the next one hanging on his arm. No word had gone around about whether he'd slept with his two girls, and every girl wanted to be the one to flaunt that bragging title around. So, it would have to be me, for everyone to be even more jealous of me. Personally, I despised him. Sure, he was hot, but he could do so much better in the friends department. I couldn't understand a person who would chose friends that would bring them down on the population latter instead of up. Clearly, there was something wrong with him.  
"Elisha?" My head snapped up. Luis was smiling politely. Oh, we were there. I gave him a sneer and pushed him out of my way so I could get out of Natalie's car. If you could call it that.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~ "Okay, everyone's here. No talking, take your place at the barre. Let's go." Karin was tons of fun when class wasn't going. But as soon as it hit that time-boom, she turned into this ultra-strict perfectionist who wouldn't let us talk during class. "And a five, six, seven, eight. Plie` fourth position, releve` . . ." and she called out positions and steps like a record.  
(A/N: The plie` and releve` should have the accent mark over the last 'e', not after it, but I don't know how to make it do that, so bear with me.) After we were stretched and warmed up, Karin announced, "Okay, now, everyone of you is going to come out here separately and dance the variation by yourself. This way, everyone can get the steps and the counting right so it'll be perfect." Oh, great. I started trembling at the thought of everyone looking at me. I'd always been kind of shy, and when I pictured myself dancing, alone, in front of the whole group-fourteen other dancers-my muscles seized up. Breathe, I told myself. Just keep it together. Dancers went on, strutted their moves, Karin corrected mistakes, and they were done. See? Easy. I felt a little stab of jealousy watching Elisha dance. She was so tall and skinny, and graceful, with long arms and legs perfect for dancing. And then there was me, with my thunder thighs. I could get the steps, but they never looked good when I did them. But when Karin announced that it was my turn, I shook off my low self-esteem and took my place. As soon as the music started, everything was right, because I was dancing.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
Natalie looked so nervous when she had to do her solo thing, I could actually see her shaking. But when she started dancing, she got calm again. Everyone could see that dance was her thing. And she was the best there. Maybe I was a little biased, but I swear it was true. I think the teacher lady knew it too. A half smile sort of flitted across her face at the sight of Natalie's unconscious huge grin. I was surprised at how good Natalie was. She bumped into things and tripped all the time when she was walking or running. And yet, here she was: graceful, and unexplainably beautiful. I had always found her attractive. I would have described her as hot, probably. But after seeing her dance, she wasn't just pretty or hot. She was definitely beautiful. That was the clincher, really. Seeing her dance gathered all my courage. Again, actually. Anyway, I was going to ask her out.  
  
Sorry for the long wait. I bet you were all biting your nails, anxiously awaiting the next installment in my thrilling tale of angst, deceit, and love. Riiight. Anyway, was the dancing part laid on a little thick? I need your feedback, guys! Is it just me, or this fic going soooooo slooooow? I mean, in the summary, it says she dumps him, and here's the end of the fourth chapter and they're not even together! Grr. I'm trying, really I am. I have the beginning and the end, but I can't really fill the middle. That's always my problem! Erg. And since the issue of slash/no slash is unresolved as of yet, I decided to just have the Bash Bros both go solo. 


	5. Taking Care of Business

~*Natalie's POV*~  
After dance, Elisha got a ride back to school with one of the other girls. Even though it was a little mean, I have to admit I was glad. My mood did not need bringing down. I was totally elated, because I got the variation! The combination had taken me weeks to get down, and I'd thought surely this would be the same. But I'd gotten it! A huge smile was on my face and stubbornly refused to leave.  
"Natalia!"  
"Luigi!" I was a little confused as to why he was acting like we'd been separated for weeks when we'd never even been apart. I decided he was joking, and his loopy grin confirmed my suspicions. So I threw my arms around his neck and called out,  
"Oh, baby, I missed you!" He laughed as girls in my dance troupe raised their eyebrows and whispered to each other. We walked back to my car with our arms looped together. I shoved my half-open dance bag into his chest and said,  
"Merry Christmas, you get the great honor of carrying my stuff!" He wrinkled his nose.  
"Well, doesn't this smell wonderful!" His sarcastic tone was lost, and so was the joke, because I stopped. There, leaning against my car, was Michael. I noted a black eye with a hint of pleasure. Luis saw him and stiffened.  
"What do you want?" Luis, sweet Luis, hissed in a very loud voice. I saw a smirk break onto Elisha's face as she watched the scene unfold.  
"Oh, look, it's Natalie's new lover. Are you blind or something? Because if you could see you'd never go out with her. From all I've heard about you, you might want to pick another girl, because Natalie won't give you what you want. Not that you'd want it from her. She's a little big, you know?" My face reddened, and I tried to block out his voice. But memories were swirling. A week after we'd first started going out, he'd started calling me names. Every single one was brought back to the surface.  
  
"Fatty!"  
"Whale!"  
"Jeez, Nats, you're so huge!"  
"Do you have to eat so much? Don't you think you've had enough?"  
  
"Look, you freak, I don't know where you get off calling her names like that. She's totally hot, and she's funny, and she's smart. How do you match with that?" It was funny, having someone stick up for me. The only time anyone had ever defended me was when my brother was still around. A boy had been picking on me, throwing rocks at me, showering me with insults and bark chips. My brother had punched him in the face and broke his nose.  
"Totally hot? Look at her!"  
"I'm looking!"  
"She's a whale!" And that was the last straw for Luis. My dance bag was flung to the ground, and I didn't care, because Luis was suddenly up in Michael's face.  
"I think you should apologize, right now."  
"What are you going to do about it, call your hit men to come take me out? You're too much of a coward to fight me yourself. You hide behind your big friends, and Natalie, and of course, she can hide you. You know, you just-" but we never found out just what Luis was, because Luis socked Michael in the gut.  
"Now apologize!" He yelled roughly. Michael didn't say anything, and Luis punched him again, this time in the face. Blood spurted from Michael's nose, and I shook off my funk and grabbed Luis's shoulder.  
"Luis, stop!" I begged.  
"He shouldn't be talking to you like that!"  
"Luis, come on! Let's go." I grabbed his hand and he allowed himself to be pulled away. I was shaking a little, but still managed to lead Luis back to my car.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
I was boiling. Seriously, I could have killed the guy for what he said. What an idiot. Who couldn't see that Natalie was beautiful? And obviously, she's a good person, since she did pull me away from Michael and all that. In her car on the way back to school, I yelled angrily,  
"Was he like that when you were with him?"  
"Luis," she said calmly. "I'm right here, you don't have to yell." But she wouldn't look me in the eye, and I knew right then.  
"Natalie! Did he treat you like that?"  
"Yeah," she told me, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. "Yeah, he was."  
"Stop the car! I'm gonna kill him!" I was ready. If I ever saw that waste of space again, I swear I would go after him.  
"I'm not going to let you fight him." She still wasn't looking at me.  
"Why not? I was winning. I was beating the snot out of him. I was creaming the tar out of him. I was--"  
"I know! And that's it exactly. I don't want you to hurt him." I stared at her, mystified.  
"Why? He called you names, treated you bad, cheated on you, and he kind of publicly humiliated you. And you won't let me beat him up?" Natalie sighed.  
"Luis, I. . .I still love him, okay? I know I shouldn't and I know he's awful and I know I should just forget about him. But. I can't. I just can't." I gave her a disgusted look. But if she still loved him, she was still hurting from that slime ball.  
"You shouldn't have to hurt like this," I murmured. "You deserve someone who will love you back and treat you nicely and be faithful. You deserve way better." I can be that person! My heart was screaming. My brain told my heart that she loved Michael. And if she loved Michael, she didn't love me. That thought made me slump.  
"Thank you," she whispered, a tear trailing down her cheek. I wanted to just wrap her up in my arms and hold her until everything was better. And I did, once we were out of the car. We were walking up to the dorms, and I stopped walking, so she stopped to see what I was doing. I went up to her and embraced her, and she laid her head on my chest. She was crying and shaking and I just stood there, holding her tight, whispering,  
"It's okay. It's gonna be okay. Shh, it's okay." And I mouthed I love you, but of course she didn't see. And of course, she didn't return it.  
  
~*Connie's POV*~  
I watched the back of Guy's head in science on Monday. If we were together, we'd be sitting together, holding hands, ignoring the movie. But now he was attentively focusing on cell membranes, and I was attentively focusing on him. I longed for him to say,  
"Connie, I love you! Please take me back, I was stupid to let you go!" But he didn't. As I stared at the back of his head, I got some satisfaction out of the fact that he was starting to sweat. Guy hated people to stare at him, and he could feel my eyes. He didn't know it was me, but he felt someone's gaze and it was making him nervous. He turned around to see who it was, and I didn't bother to look away. But he smiled at some cheerleader type behind me. What? Hey, she stole my stare! I glared at his back now, before dropping my eyes to the desk. There, in a heart, was  
  
G.G.  
+  
C.M.  
  
I almost started crying right then and there. These were the same tables we'd had sophomore year. At the beginning of the year, when Guy and I had still been going out, he'd carved that into the desk after school. He'd gotten suspended for a day, and a game, and had to do janitorial work for a week, but he said it was worth it.  
"Now everyone will know how I feel about you, Cons." Yeah, well, everyone knew about our breakup. Under the heart, in a curly script, it declared,  
  
Guy Germaine is now single and available! He finally cut himself loose from that loser tomboy Connie Moreau (A/N: sp?).  
  
Now I did start to cry. Very silently, but I was crying. Thankfully, the bell rang, I rushed out, no one noticing me. Except Guy. And no one knew I was crying. Except Guy. And no one came after me. Except Guy.  
"Connie! What's wrong?" I noted the usage of my name, not 'Cons', or any other nickname.  
"Nothing," I mumbled in a hurt voice, swiping my traitor eyes with the back of my hand. I didn't want him to say anything to me unless it was the magic words.  
"Cons," he started, brushing a lock of hair off my face. "Can we talk?" My heart started thundering. Could this be it? Would this be the time when we would get back together?  
"S-sure," I stammered. "When? Where? Why?" He laughed at my squeaking questions and said,  
"It's a surprise! Meet me in the library at lunch." And then he was gone, melding into the crowded hallway. I let out a little squeal and set out at a run. I had to find Jules!  
  
~*Goldberg's POV*~  
I was walking down the hall when I saw it. There was Luis, talking and flirting with some girl. Except he didn't really look like he was flirting. She certainly did, she was flirting her little heart out, but Luis looked vacant, his eyes scanning the crowd. He spotted me, said something to the girl that crushed her, and hurried over.  
"Phew! Man, Goldie, you're a lifesaver! I think that girl wanted me to ask Julie or Connie to room with her or something. She kept mentioning that she had a single room and no one was ever there except her." I gave him an incredulous look, thinking for sure he was kidding. But no, he had a completely straight face. Oh, man, what happened to Luis? Our star player? Player referring to the ladies, not the puck.  
"Luis!" I said firmly and sternly. "She was flirting with you. Duh!"  
"But why would she mention her single room?" Suddenly he gasped. "Oh!"  
"Yeah, you dipwad loserhead." But instead of looking pleased or even running after the girl, he seemed appalled.  
"Scarlet woman!" He called in the direction of where she had been. She was long gone, but Luis hadn't even known who he'd been talking to.  
"What the cheese is the matter with you?" I asked sadly. "What happened to Super Luis the Ladies Man?" That was a name we'd given him last year, a name that he'd flaunted all year and signed all his emails with all summer. But now his face changed, hardened, and he said softly,  
"Maybe he grew up." Then he just left me there, shocked, wondering what that was about. No way he grew up. The Ducks prided themselves on being the most immature people in all of Minnesota. You weren't allowed to grow up. It was kind of like living in Never Land. And if he grew up, wouldn't his lady skills broaden? I shook my worn out brain. This was just too confusing on an empty stomach.  
  
Okey dokey. Sorry for such a long wait. I was at my grandma's all week. Did you know in Oregon there's a Banks, and a Fulton's Canyon? Yep, so on the car ride I swear I was going through withdrawals. MD withdrawals. Reviewing gets you. . .nothing actually, except the inner satisfaction it brings. LOL that's from A Walk to Remember, the best movie ever. Yes, I like it even more than MD! Anywho, review please! 


	6. Dates

~*Connie's POV*~  
I practically ran to the library at lunch. Just before I got there, I slowed so I would look cool and collected. I checked my makeup and layered some shiny lip-gloss before pasting a bright smile on my face. I flipped my hair when I walked in and. . .Guy wasn't there yet. I let out an exasperated sigh and flopped onto the nearest vacant chair. I hadn't been sitting there two seconds when Guy walked in. A nervous smile flitted across his mouth as I waved him over.  
"Hey Cons," he said, then got serious. "Look. I know we broke up. But I was hoping. . ."  
"Mm-hmm?" I urged him.  
"I still want us to be friends." I closed my eyes to keep the tears from falling. "I mean, I don't want practice to be awkward, and I really don't want to lose one of my best friends. So can we still be pals even though we're not together?"  
"Yeah," I mumbled, staring at the graffiti on the library table. "Yeah, that'd be great."  
"Awesome." He flashed me a smile. "Gotta go. See ya at practice!" And he strode out, leaving me to feel hurt and rejected all over again. To add insult to injury, as soon as he walked out, that Erin girl he smiled at earlier was all over him, and he started flirting with her, heading to lunch.  
"I cannot handle this." I thought aloud. Not wanting to go to lunch and see Guy and Erin together, I walked around campus aimlessly for a few minutes before I wound up at Natalie's dorm. Why not? I thought. I can see how she's doing after the whole Michael fiasco. I knocked and heard some shuffling around, and after a while, the door swung open to reveal Natalie, in sweats and a T-shirt, her hair a mess and her eyes red and swollen.  
"Hey," she whispered, running a hand through her rat's nest.  
"Natalie." I breathed. "What's going on?"  
"I didn't go to class today. I just. . .I can't get over Michael." I shook my head.  
"Natalie! You stay right here for a minute." I ran to the cafeteria and found the team.  
"Jules," I panted. "You gotta come quick. N-a friend of ours needs some help." Luis looked up after my blunder.  
"Is it Natalie?" He demanded. "She wasn't in class today and I had to endure partnering with Patty." We all grimaced and laughed. Patty was this girl who kept an incessant stream of chatter going about things like the run in her hose or how utterly devastating it was to not have any fingernail polish remover. She had about as much brainpower as a piece of straw.  
"Yes, it's Natalie. But she needs girls right now, not guys, Luis. No matter how much you know her or care about her," I added when he started to protest.  
"What is it?" Jules asked.  
"She's having trouble getting herself together today. So I thought we could help her." I sent her a look that told her there was more. Unfortunately, Luis already knew.  
"Oh, she's still moping about that goon, isn't she?" He started to get all mad and ticked off. "I swear, if I ever see him--"  
"We know. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a friend in need."  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
I knew how stupid it was for me to skip class Monday. But the thought of facing people. . .I just couldn't handle school that day. Another knock signaled Connie's return, and I listlessly called out,  
"Come on in." It was Connie, like I'd known, and she'd brought Julie.  
"Well, let's get to work, shall we? We only have twenty minutes."  
"What do you mean?" Julie attacked my hair with a brush, and Connie started rifling through my closet for something to wear.  
"Natalie, that guy, what's his name? Michael, well, he was a loser. Really. I know Luis must have told you this, but really, he is."  
"Actually, Luis told me a few times. Like a zillion."  
"Yeah. Cause, see, Luis is a smart guy." Julie added, shooting me a knowing grin. She kept brushing, but asked, "So what do you think of Luis, anyway?"  
"Umm, I think he's really nice," I said evasively. Connie rolled her eyes.  
"But what do you think think of him? I mean, would you date him?"  
"Well. . ." Of course I'd date him! "Yeah, if he asked me, I would. But come on, that's never gonna happen."  
"You're right, of course," Julie said. Connie looked surprised, but a look passed between their eyes, and she smiled. What I wouldn't give for a friend like that, some one who could read my thoughts with just one look.  
"Of course he'll never ask you out." Julie chimed.  
"Yeah, I mean, you're only smart, funny, nice, pretty, and of course all he ever talks about. Why on earth would he ask you out?" My heart started pounding. I was all Luis ever talked about?  
"Seriously?" I asked.  
"Yeah, about the first sentence, anyway." I giggled, then chuckled, and soon I was flat out laughing. I couldn't stop, and it was contagious for Connie and Julie, so we just sat there on my bed, cracking up. Suddenly Julie caught glance of her watch, and shooed me into the bathroom to change. I was wearing khakis and a faded blue shirt that said 'Eureka Dance Company'. Not exactly the most stylish outfit, I know, but it was comfortable. In English later that day, I was still thinking about what Julie and Connie had said. Could it be possible? Did Luis really like me? The idea was laughable. But how I wanted to believe it!  
"Natalie!" An unfamiliar voice shook me out of a fantasy of me and Luis getting together. I turned to see some kid I recognized but wouldn't be able to say what his name was. I put a hesitant smile on my face.  
"Uh, yeah?"  
"You probably don't my name. I'm Ricky Jones. So I heard you aren't going to homecoming. Cause your boyfriend dumped you and you'd look like a loser going alone. And it's too late to get a date now." Homecoming? When was that? And excuse me; did he just underhandedly call me a loser? And hey, I was the dumper, not the dumpee, after all.  
"Actually, I'm going with Luis Mendoza." Ahh! Why did I just say that?  
"Oh, wow. Nice, um, okay. See you there, I guess." He walked off, and I banged my head on my desk, moaning. As soon as the bell rang, I flashed out the door. I had to find Luis before word got out that he was my date!  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
After the last class of the day, I was walking to my locker innocently. And suddenly someone barreled into me and practically tackled me.  
"LUIS!" Natalie screamed.  
"What? What?! I didn't do anything, I swear!" What on earth was her problem?  
"I have to ask you something!" She panted.  
"Okay, what?" But she had to catch her breath first. She'd sprinted all the way to my locker from her English class, and that was down three flights of stairs and through four hallways.  
"W-when is homecoming?" Homecoming? I'd forgotten all about homecoming. Ahh! I needed a date! Crap, today was Monday, and homecoming was. . .Friday! It was Friday.  
"Ahh! Homecoming is Friday and I don't have a date!" I was starting to panic. Wait, I could just ask Natalie. She was conveniently in front of me, and no one would have asked her because she'd had a boyfriend until Friday. But maybe she wasn't ready to go-  
"Neither do I! We have to go together!" Well, I guess she was ready to go out. Hey, wait, she just asked me out! But she'd said we 'have' to go together. Not will you go with me or we 'get' to go together. We 'have' to. I hadn't even considered anyone else (possibly because I'd just remembered when she was talking about it) so I thought we 'had' to go together, but in a way that there was no one else for me. She sounded like Oh crap! I have to go with you, because there's no one else to ask!  
"Well, don't sound so excited." I said with a raised eyebrow.  
"I mean, please go with me! This is a very dire situation!" I started laughing at the word 'dire'. What kind of word is dire, anyway?  
"Stop laughing! This kid called me a loser because my boyfriend dumped me, which, by the way, it went the other way around, so I told him I was going with you! You're not mad, are you?" Mad that I was the first name on her lips? No way!  
"Who called you a loser?" That was something to get mad about. She waved away my words and said,  
"Focus, Luigi! Will you go with me or not?"  
"Yeah, of course!"  
"Great, now, okay, what color is your suit?" Suit? Whoa now.  
"I'm not wearing a suit!" I protested.  
"You have to!" She cried frantically. "It's homecoming! You have to wear a suit, and oh no! I have to buy a dress! So I need to know what color to buy!"  
"Natalie!" I shook her by the shoulders. "Calm down, woman! You're hyperventilating! Deep breaths, deep breaths!" She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. But then her eyes snapped open and she yelled,  
"You HAVE to wear a suit!"  
"Okay! I'll wear a freakin suit!"  
"What color?"  
"Umm. . ."  
"Now! Come on! You're going to be late for practice!"  
"Curses! I'm just wearing a black suit, so wear whatever color dress you want!" Then I made a mad dash for the locker room. Orion was waiting, and the team was out on the ice already.  
"Where were you, Luis?" He sounded mad. Maybe because we'd only been in school for like a month and I'd already been late four times.  
"Sorry, Coach! I was. . .finalizing plans for the homecoming dance."  
"Luis. . ." "Look, Coach, I promise I won't be late again. Unless I have a good reason. Honest, it won't happen again." I gave him a big, charming smile and hoped he'd let me off the hook. "All right. Hurry and change. And after practice," "Yeah, I know. Laps." I'd become very acquainted to laps this year. Not that that was a good thing. But even laps couldn't bring me down. I had a date with Natalie! 


	7. Shopping

~*Natalie's POV*~  
Oh, man! Luis said yes! When I finally stumbled into my room and closed the door, I stuffed a pillow into my mouth and screamed. When I turned back around, Elisha was staring at me like I'd grown another head.  
"Hey, Elisha!" I yelled exuberantly, very perky all of a sudden. She simply rolled her eyes and walked into the bathroom. I took the liberty of sticking my tongue out at her retreating back. If I had to describe my mood in one word, it would have to be giddy. I felt so totally high! Or, what I thought being high might feel like. I wouldn't really know. But now I was all hyper with nothing to do. I could go shopping, I needed my homecoming dress. . .but I didn't want to go alone. But then again, I didn't want to beg Connie and Julie to come with me, either. They were the only girl friends I had. So I decided to go buy my dress. Okay, I had a plan. I always had a plan, the trouble was following through. I grabbed my purse and left, not even bothering to say good-bye to Elisha. Maybe I should get a new roommate, I thought. Nah, it's only a year, I can stick it out. But I hated going in there. I hated the way she smirked at me, like she was so much better than me because she was beautiful. I must have something going for me, I comforted myself. Luis likes me. Or at least feels sorry for me. Oh, no! What if that's the only reason he's friends with me? Something told me that wasn't it. But it could be why he agreed to go to the dance as my date. My date, I thought dreamily. Luis Mendoza is my date. Right then I didn't really care if he was just doing it out of pity. I could take his pity-love, at least for one night. If it meant I got to dance with him, hey, whatever.  
"Can I help you?" The sales clerk asked as I walked in.  
"Nope, I'm just looking for a dress." The lady's eyes followed me, and I felt like she was about to say something like 'we don't have your size. We only stock normal sized bodies. Sorry.' Wow, that would be awkward. I began to shake a little, hoping no one would notice me but thinking that my size made that impossible. I looked at the dresses. I saw an absolutely gorgeous one; it was satin, in a deep, deep blue. I checked the tag. The price was no problem. The size. . .well, that was another matter. I started looking not for a dress that would look good, but just one that would fit. Size four. Size three. Size six. Size seven. Getting closer. . .come on, almost there. Before I'd come shopping, I'd felt good about myself. I'd rationalized that really, I wasn't fat. I was just a little big compared to all the other girls at Eden Hall. And now, looking back, that's totally true. But at that exact moment, sifting through dresses that were all at least three sizes too small, my self-esteem balloon popped.  
"Do you need assistance?" The lady asked. My ears were burning as I asked,  
"Do you have any dresses, uh. . .a little bigger?" She gave me a look that might have been a frown or it might have been pity, but I ignored it as she led me to 'plus-size' rack. Humiliation, my friend, humiliation. This happened every time I went shopping, explaining the lack of passion I had for shopping that many girls possess.  
"Here you go." And with a last fake, plastic smile, she left me alone. I almost lost it. I looked for one like that beautiful blue one, but there wasn't one. I settled for a soft green color, made out of some non-descript imitation-velvet material. One good thing would be that maybe (hopefully), no one would notice me.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
"I need a suit!" I moaned to Dwayne and Goldberg. "A suit! I hate suits; they make me feel like I'm at a funeral. Or a wedding."  
"Yeah, because those two choices are so much alike," Goldberg said dryly.  
"Ya don't have a suit?" Dwayne drawled, extremely surprised. "Why, if ya don't have a suit, whaddaya wear to church?"  
"I don't go to church, Dwayne," I informed him, rather bluntly. His eyes opened wide.  
"Ya d-don't go to church? Doesn't your mama take ya?" I felt my face change at the mention of my 'mama', definitely one of my weak points. I turned away quickly and composed myself. With a hollow laugh, I turned back around.  
"Yeah, right. My mom, at church. Or my mom, taking me somewhere. Good one Dwayne." I really couldn't handle talking about all this and crap like that, so I just left the room. "I'm going to get a suit."  
  
~*Dwayne's POV*~  
My head was spinning. I looked at Goldberg, who looked like the same thing was going on with him.  
"Goldie? I think there's something wrong with Luis." Goldberg rolled his eyes.  
"Gosh, Dwayne, really?" I think he was being sarcastic. People think I'm really stupid, but I'm not. It's just, when people talk, the words sort of cloud up before they get to my brain. And when they finally make it there, I can't understand what they mean. People look at the way I'm trying to fathom what they're saying and immediately say it's because I'm a 'dumb hick' farm boy. My friends know I'm not, and they don't tease me about it. They treat me normal; help me understand what people are talking about. If it were anyone else, Goldberg would still be sarcastic. But no one else would probably say that. So I felt a little stupid.  
"Dwayne, stop thinking your stupid," Goldberg said impatiently. "Anyway, I don't really think we should pry. You know Luis-he'll talk when he wants to. And then we won't be able to shut him up."  
"Yeah, I s'pose your right. But maybe he needs to talk, just doesn't want to. Maybe we should try to get him to--"  
"Dwayne, you know what would happen. He'd just get mad and tell us to get out of his life. So let's just drop it, okay?"  
"Okay," I said quietly. We watched TV and played a few video games. And we managed to keep the words 'talk' 'Luis' and 'mother' out of our conversations.  
  
~*Goldberg's POV*~  
It was nine o'clock, and Luis still wasn't back. I was getting a little worried, like maybe he wasn't going to come back because he was mad at us or something. Or maybe something horrible happened and he was lying in a dark ally somewhere, slowly bleeding to death and feebly calling for his friends. My eyes were growing wider as I thought that, and Dwayne gave me a funny look. He opened his mouth, probably to ask me what was up, when the door opened. Charlie and Portman were supporting Luis between them, and I gasped.  
"Oh no, I'm psychic!" Now Charlie and Portman joined Dwayne in the funny looking (ha ha, like they weren't already! Man, wish I woulda said that out loud. That was a great one! Okay, Goldie, quit talking to yourself.). Luis seemed out of it, staring off into space and leaning heavily on Charlie and Portman.  
"Um, anyway, Luis is drunk. So don't let anyone find out, okay?" Dwayne's mouth was hanging wide open. He'd had a few real shocks today: first, Luis didn't go to church, then, Luis stormed out after mention of his mom, and now Luis was drunk. Luis was quite the shocker today. Actually, I was pretty shocked, too. Not the church part-I knew tons of people who didn't go to church (Dwayne did, too; he just didn't know)-but especially the drunk part.  
"Luis! How could you get drunk?" Luis giggled, yes giggled, his eyes glassy, and said,  
"Well, duh, I drank a lot. . ." then suddenly he was heading for the bathroom. He was weaving all over the place and bumping into things. In the end, he didn't even make it all the way there, just retched and threw up all over his own favorite shirt. Maybe next time he won't leave it lying out. Or he won't go out and get drunk.  
"Gross!" I yelled. "Now our room is gonna smell awful!"  
"Look, this is really not cool," Charlie was in full Captain mode. "If he gets caught, he'll be suspended from the team, at the very least. He could get thrown off altogether. Do you guys know any reason why he would do this?" Dwayne and I looked at each other, then at Luis, who was lying on the ground moaning.  
"Well," Dwayne began hesitantly. "I, um, we think, maybe. . ." he couldn't seem to think of how to put it into words.  
"There's something wrong with him and his mom. Dwayne said something about his mom and Luis just left. He said he was getting a suit. You know, for homecoming."  
"He didn't have a suit yet?" Charlie glared at Portman for asking a question like that at a time like this. "Well, I'm gonna go make sure AA over there doesn't like, choke on his own barf or something." Dwayne wrinkled his nose at the thought.  
"Okay, so something isn't right at home. But I'm still gonna kill him tomorrow. It wouldn't be as bad if it was still over the summer, but during school. . .and Luis never drinks! Remember that time last summer when we got all the Ducks together and had a party, and we had all that beer? Luis didn't touch any. Said getting drunk wasn't a good way to deal with anything. He even got rid of all of it, remember? Dumped it all down the drain in the bathtub. Now look at him. I'm gonna kill him! Yeah, tomorrow, when he has a really nasty hangover, I'm gonna go up and yell in his face, heh heh. . ." Still plotting evil ways to hurt Luis, Charlie left.  
"Watch him, guys, okay?" Portman asked, and then he was gone, too. Then it was just me and Dwayne. Taking care of a drunk Luis. Wow, this year sucked.  
  
Short-ish chapter. It pained me so to write Luis in a law-breaking state. Oh well. Needed something to fill the awful white space, and I was getting nothing. So I made him go get drunk. . .besides, it was an excuse for me to go 'Oo, the plot thickens!' except for the obvious fact that it wasn't much of a plot-thickener. Eh, what can ya do? Yeah, umm, so review! 


	8. Two Weeks

~*Luis's POV*~  
I hadn't meant to go out and get drunk. I really hadn't. But there was this guy, selling beer to a bunch of underage kids. And I'd thought, Beer makes you forget your problems. I shook the thought out of my brain, but halfway down the street it came back, stronger. To counter-act my own thoughts, I pulled up the memory of my mother, passed out on the couch, covered in her own puke. But thinking about my mom made me feel worse, and next thing I knew I was back at school and Charlie was yelling at me. Then I was throwing up, and I don't remember anything after that.  
"Luis! Wake up, now!" Dwayne's voice was like a jackhammer. I rolled over and moaned.  
"Whaddaya want?" I mumbled, throwing the sheets over my head. "Shut up!" I yelled at the birds chirping outside the window.  
"Luis, if you don't get to class their gonna send someone to find out what your problem is. You could get expelled!" I sat up. Slowly.  
"All right, all right, I'm coming." I clutched at my head. "Owww! Why didn't you guys tell me getting drunk was so painful?" I didn't get an answer, just an aspirin bottle thrust into my hands and Goldberg and Dwayne working together to yank me out of bed.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
Luis wasn't at breakfast. Not when I got there, anyway, and he's an early riser. He had a routine: he'd get up at six, workout, take a shower, and get to breakfast by seven thirty. It was eight. There was half an hour of breakfast left before class.  
"You guys, is there something wrong with Luis? Where is he?" The team exchanged uneasy glances. That's when I knew something was up. He wasn't sick, or they would've just told me.  
"What? What is it, tell me!"  
"Natalie. . .Luis had a rough night last night." Was all Charlie said.  
"No, come on, give me a real answer. Right now." But they didn't have to, because Luis came in right then. The way he was holding his head down, eyes squinched in pain, reminded me of my brother after he'd gone out and gotten drunk.  
"Oh, you're joking me, right?" I was really pissed.  
"Um, no."  
"Luis Mendoza! You are an idiot!" And then I left. I couldn't stand to look at him when he was all gross and hung-over.  
"Ouch, no yelling please," I heard him mutter as he walked after me. Once we were outside, I whirled around to face him.  
"What is the matter with you?" I yelled in his face. He winced and I didn't feel bad at all for causing him discomfort.  
"Natalie, I've been having a tough time at home, all right? And don't you think I know how stupid it was now?" So. He was asking me to let him off because he had a hangover. Not a chance, bub.  
"Luis, having problems doesn't give you an excuse to get drunk." But my tone was softening. How could it not, with him looking so pitiful?  
"I know," he whispered softly. "But, I just couldn't handle anything that was happening, and I thought. . . I'm such an idiot." This was a side of Luis I'd never seen.  
"Well, yeah, it was a pretty dumb idea," I agreed. "But you're not an idiot for doing one dumb thing." We were quiet for a minute, then I asked, "So, you gonna tell me the problems at home?" Big sigh.  
"Well. . .my mom left this summer. Like, she's left before and come back after a few weeks or so, but this time she didn't come back."  
"Oh, no! What did you if she was gone? I mean, who took care of you?" He gave me a rueful smile.  
"I stayed at my grandma's house down the street. But my mom never really took care of me anyway. Sometimes, she'd go through a stage for about two weeks were she was Super Mom or something. You know? She'd cook and clean and talk to me and hug me and pick me up from school and ask how my day was or during the summer, she'd take me to the zoo or to the movies or whatever. And then, as quick as the stage came, it was gone. She'd go back to ignoring me completely." How could somebody do that to their kid? Why have a kid at all if you're going to treat him like that?  
"That's awful. I'm sorry, Luis," I said softly, taking his hand.  
"It was the worst the first day she went out of her mom stage. Like, every time, I would convince myself that she actually loved me and wanted to be my mom. . .and then have it crash down on me that she didn't. I think she got some satisfaction when I would wake up, come downstairs, and say good morning, and she'd stare at me blankly. I hate that blank stare. It was like she didn't even know who I was, even though we look almost exactly alike. She went through her phase to play with my head, I'm sure."  
"Luis, she's your mother. Of course she loves you." I was trying to reassure him.  
"She sure has a funny way of showing it. When she left, there was a note. She said it was because she couldn't take having me around anymore. So she ran away." He laughed a little. "Wow, we Mendoza's sure know how to handle our problems, eh? Get drunk or run away. Sometimes both."  
"W-what about your. . .dad?" I asked hesitantly. Obviously, Luis's life wasn't exactly picture perfect the way I'd been imagining it. Luis shook his head at my question and looked down and away.  
"Never knew him. See, he would find a girl he liked, sleep with her, hang around for two weeks, and then leave. When my told him she was pregnant, he stayed his whole two weeks. And then he left. I think that's why my mom's little 'phases' lasted two weeks. She was taking her pain out on me." I was crying now. Maybe I was getting a little too emotional, but the way his voice sounded. . .he was seriously doubting himself and everything in his world, and that was killing me.  
"Well, if your mom doesn't love you, that's her loss." I sobbed. "She must be stupid or something."  
"Hey, don't cry for me, okay? I don't like pity."  
"It's not pity," I told him, wiping my eyes. "It's sympathy. I'm hurting for you, okay? And hey!" I gave him a light smack on the back of his head. "How come you never told me all this before? You could have talked to me. It would have made you feel better."  
"I told you, I don't like pity. So I didn't tell anyone."  
"Not even the Ducks?"  
"Not even the Ducks."  
  
~*Charlie's POV*~  
After a minute, we followed Luis and Natalie outside and hid in the bushes. We needed to know what was going on with him, and since he wouldn't talk directly to us, we decided to eavesdrop.  
"Ouch! Averman, that's my side your elbow is digging into!" Connie whispered fiercely. These bushes were not as comfortable as I'd thought they'd be.  
"All I'm saying is: Portman, if that's your hand and not a bush, you're going to lose it soon if you don't move it." Julie can be very threatening sometimes.  
"Hey, sorry, babe. Just thought you might need a little support."  
"My butt can hold itself up, thanks." I shot Portman a disgusted look, followed by a warning one. Once I'd tried to both at the same time, but it doesn't really work.  
"Shhh!" I hissed. "What's the point of eavesdropping if we can't hear what they're saying?"  
"You're the one talking," Ken pointed out. I sent him a threatening glare, but he just grinned at me. Ah, crap. Gotta work on that threatening glare. Luis was talking about his mom, and for once, we were silent.  
"That's horrible," Connie whispered sadly. "You guys, we shoulda pried it out of him. He needed us to comfort him!" Okay, I sufficiently felt bad now. We had a Duck in need and didn't even know it. Luis and Natalie had stopped talking, now they were hugging. And then they were talking again, but this time they were laughing. Suddenly, Julie screamed and jumped out of the bushes.  
"Ewwwwww! Yuck, yuck, yuck! Averman just put his gum in my hair!" She was running towards Averman and Averman was just babbling,  
"No! She put her hair in my gum, I swear!" Luis and Natalie looked mad when they parted the bushes to reveal all twelve other team members. Then they looked at each other, grinned matching mischievous grins, and yelled,  
"Get 'em!"  
  
Thanks to my reviewers! You guys roll my cheese log!! lol anyway, I'm a super freak. Reviews are cool! Hint. Yeah, I'm subtle. 


	9. Homecoming

~*Goldberg's POV*~  
Friday came. I, of course, did not have a date. Even Averman had a date. So I wouldn't even have my best friend to stand at the wall with me and crack jokes with. I think I was right the first time when I said this year sucked. Anyway, I'm standing against the wall, and there's this kid eyeballing me, and it's kinda freaking me out. He's been staring at me for at least ten minutes, gotta be. I gritted my teeth. How I hate hanging out on the loser wall.  
"Hey, Goldie, what's up?" Luis asked, leaning against the wall carelessly.  
"Just enjoying the nerd wall. Where's Natalie?"  
"Bathroom. You shouldn't be on the nerd wall, cause you're not a nerd. Go ask that girl to dance, she's been staring at you all night." I gave him my most disbelieving look. He didn't have to lie to make me feel better.  
"Yeah, right."  
"Dude, I'm not kidding!"  
"Not kidding about what?" Ken came up behind us.  
"Luis thinks some girl's been staring at me."  
"Oh, yeah, Lisa. She has. Look now! See?" Wow, that girl really was staring at me. I didn't see a date. . .  
"No date," Ken told me. Freaky, it's like he was reading my mind.  
"I'm gonna go for it!"  
"All right Goldie! Quick, before someone else gets her." I swear, I almost had a heart attack walking over to her. Be cool, I thought. She's just a girl. Just a pretty girl. Pretend she's Connie or Julie; you never get nervous around them. You're talking to yourself again.  
"Hi," I said shyly.  
"Hello."  
"I'm Greg Goldberg."  
"Lisa Bennings."  
"Um, do you want to dance?" She smiled at me. Smiled at me!  
"Sure. I'd love to."  
  
~*Guy's POV*~  
After the library thing with Connie, I'd cursed myself. Several times, actually. Why had I wimped out at the last second? Determined, I'd purposefully marched to her dorm after practice. But she was with Julie and Natalie. So after dinner, I'd asked her if we could talk. Again.  
"Guy, what is it? Just tell me what's going on?"  
"I want you back!" I blurted. She blinked. "Will you go to the dance with me?" Now she laughed. Please be a good thing! Was the only thought running through my brain.  
"Of course I will! Why didn't you just ask in the library, you dork?"  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
I was hiding. In the bathroom. From Luis. Not that he'd done anything wrong-he hadn't. But I didn't want him to see me. I was dead sure I looked hideous; even though he'd told me several times that I was beautiful. Elisha had not helped me at all. When I'd come out of the bathroom (in the dorm) in my dress, she'd smirked that annoying little smirk at me. "Where on earth did you find that dress? Natalie, you're family is the seventh richest in the state of Minnesota. Why not use some of that wallet space? Have you ever considered cosmetic surgery? You could have the potential to look beautiful, maybe. But definitely never in that dress." I'd waited for Luis in the hall. Now here I was, in the bathroom, alone. I took a deep breath and blew my bangs off my forehead when I exhaled. Connie came in. "Hey, are you okay? Luis asked me to come check on you." I sighed. "I'm fine." She tilted her head, gazing at me perceptively. "Oh, okay. You're in here having a pity-party while Luis waits out at the dance, alone, looking like a loser. But, you know, if it makes you feel better, stay in here all night." And then she stormed out, leaving me to feel awful. It just wasn't that easy. Nevertheless, I couldn't leave Luis alone out there. Hold your head up like the dancer you are! Karin always said that, so I followed the advice of her voice in my head and walked out to the gym with a smile on my face. "Hey, look who decided to come out of the bathroom! It's Natalia!" "Hey, look who decided to, umm, ah screw it. It's Luigi!" "I didn't know Luis decided to screw it," Guy said with a sly smile. Luis gave him a punch to the shoulder and Connie gave him an elbow in the gut. Guy threw his hands over his head and whined, "Hey, I was just kidding! Why is everyone picking on me?" "All right, kids," the Dean was at the microphone. "This is the last dance." There were shouts of 'aww man!' and 'already?' to which the Dean frowned. "Just enjoy it!" He snapped. "Whoa, 'member when he used to be so nice?" Luis whispered. "He probably had a break-down from the Ducks," I teased. After giving me a snooty glare, Luis suddenly switched gears and acted shocked and rushed. "Oh no! We have to dance together! Quick!" It took me a second to work out that he was making fun of the way I'd asked him out. I shook my head, ignored the teasing, and yanked him out to the dance floor. A slow country song glided to out ears. I recognized it as one of my favorite songs-I Don't Want to Miss A Thing by Mark Chesnutt. Luis kissed my hand and wrapped his arms around my waist. Taken by surprise, I automatically slipped my own arms around his neck, and we danced. "You know," Luis whispered in my ear, breaking the magical silence. "This is now our song. Well, actually, that depends on how you answer my next question." After a dramatic pause, I got impatient. "Well, I can't answer if you never ask!" He laughed quietly and said, "Patience is a virtue. But, I'll spare you. This question is gonna sound stupid. Maybe it'll just make me sound stupid. Anyway, I know this is only our first date, but-" my heart jumped-"I was wondering. . .Natalie, do wanna, uh, go steady?" I was quiet. No one had ever actually asked me that question. In fact, I wasn't sure people ever really asked. I'd thought that was only on TV. Michael was the only boyfriend I'd ever had, and with him we'd just gone out a few times before he gave me his letterman's jacket and started calling me 'his girl' and stuff like that. I felt Luis fidget, bringing me back to the question. "Well," I decided to draw my answer out. For fun, you see. "Um, Luis, you're a great guy and all," I felt him sort of slump against me. "So, the answer would have to be yes." He laughed a little. "You're such meanie!" He exclaimed. "But now you're my meanie." "And you're such a dork! My dork, but a dork nonetheless." And then, continuing his pattern of shocking and pleasing me, he kissed me. Probably just to shut me up, but hey, a kiss is a kiss. For the rest of the song, we danced silently, enjoying each other's company, now that we'd be enjoying each other's company a lot more often.  
  
~*Dwayne's POV*~ Well, I was glad everyone else had a fine night, but I certainly did not. My date, Sandra, turned out to be not exactly a well-mannered, soft-spoken girl like I'd thought. Her voice was very grating, and she talked unimaginably fast and loud. By the second word out of her mouth, I was already wishing I could swap partners with someone. Anyone. My wish came true. Sort of. Some guy came over and asked her to dance, and she didn't even glance back as she took his hand. And while I was glad she was out of my hair, I no longer had anyone to dance with. I saw a few girls I'd wanted to ask, but I've never been the outgoing kind. I waited out the rest of the dance by the punch bowl, or sitting in one of the chairs off to the side. What a great dance. Goldberg and Luis both came back with that 'giddy shine' in their eyes, as my mother was prone to say. The giddy shine of love. In my eyes, there was probably the burning light of hate and anger. Goldberg had met a girl. Luis had asked Natalie to go steady and she, of course, had said yes. When they finally asked how my night went, I mumbled some answer, probably along the lines of 'fine' or 'just great' or something. That shook the haze out of Luis and Goldberg's eyes. "Cowboy, what's up?" "I just didn't have as great a time as ya'll did. Look, I'm tired, okay? I'm gonna hit the hay, all righty? G'night, guys." I was tossing and turning all night. Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to take a little stroll. Quietly, I slipped on some sweats and a sweatshirt. "Who's that?" A whisper in the dark startled me half to death. "Who's that?" I asked back. A flashlight shone in my eyes, making me wince. "Well, see ya, Cowboy!" When my eyes finally adjusted, I saw a shadow running towards the school. Only a few people (a number around, say, 12) called me Cowboy, and this person was not one of them. Though I wasn't the sturdiest stool on the milking shelf, I could distinguish voices really well. This was not a voice I knew. So who was that? A little jeebed out, I scurried back to my dorm, wondering about that voice. I'd only heard a few words, but from that I could tell my mystery shadow was a girl.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~ I dreamed of Natalie Friday night. It was weird. . .she was hanging off a bridge and I walked by. I tried to help her, but she wouldn't give me her hand. She didn't trust me, and we both ended up falling and getting hurt. I woke up sweating a little, with tears mingling with the sweat. My heart was beating just a little too hard and my breath was coming just a little too rapidly. I got up and went into the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face, hoping it would calm me down. It was just a dream, doofus. I chided myself. Who cries in their sleep, anyway? Well, I did. I'd been crying in my sleep since I was seven years old. But it had never happened at school, not since I was here with the Ducks. Being with the Ducks was the only time I was ever really happy, so I'd been pretty happy for the past five years. Except for summer. Summer, when I went back to my mom, and my grandma, and my home, and my crap of a life, and. . .the water was overflowing in the sink, because I'd put the plug in the drain and left the water running. Mentally kicking myself, I cleaned up the mess and went back to bed. But I couldn't sleep. Not because of the dream anymore. Because now the memories were demanding to be played and replayed over and over again. I tried to force my mind to other things. I thought about my favorite movie, Remember the Titans, which I knew by heart and had memorized. But I couldn't focus enough to play it in my brain. The memories took up too much space. ~Flashback Ripply Thing~ "Mommy, can you help me with my homework?" I was six. And all I got as an answer was that infuriating blank stare. Those eyes were so. . .vacant. "Mommy?" "Go away." That raspy voice of hers always scared me out of my wits, scared me into compliance. I fled up the stairs to my room and struggled through my addition problems. That was the earliest memory I have.  
  
"Luis! I'm so glad you're home!" I was eight, and I'd learned to avoid my mother at all costs. But this was her first Super Mom phase, and I didn't know how to take it. Even then, I was wary and suspicious. "I'm sorry I've been such a bad mother, Luis. I want to make it up to you. Get your coat, let's go to the zoo." Then, that night. That night was possibly the best memory I ever had. My mother was tucking me into bed for the first time in my life. She pushed a curl off my forehead and whispered, "Go to sleep, my little Leesy." And her harsh voice turned into a soothing melody as I drifted off to sleep, happily for once. But then, two weeks later. . .  
  
"Mom! I'm home!" "What's the matter with you?! Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?!" She was screaming at me, her raggedy hair limp and dull. Her hair was always one of the key signs. When she was Super Mom, she kept up her appearance. But now she was back to looking like a druggie (which she was) and not taking care of herself. With no makeup on and her cheeks all sunk in like that, she reminded me of a picture I'd seen of a zombie. So, being the eight-year-old tough guy that I was, I screamed like a girl and raced to my room, slamming the door. ~End of flashback~ Looking back, my home life was one of the reasons I could skate so fast but not stop. I would try to out-skate my problems, and since I was inside my brain instead of paying attention to what I was doing, I couldn't stop. Or maybe I would forget about reality and skate, free for once, until the boards would slam me back into my life. Or maybe I'm just not good at stopping.  
  
I don't much like this chapter, but oh well. Who is Dwayne's mystery girl?? Review if you have a suggestion. . .or if you want to *be* that girl. And if you want to *be* that girl, you must leave your name. In your REVIEW. Or you could just review for the FUN of it. Don't you find reviewing fun, even just a teensy little bit? I think it's fun to get reviews, so I think you should all give me reviews, since it was my birthday last Wednesday. Well, in about four months, but what does that matter? Just REVIEW already!!! Oh and by the way, since you are all going "Oh she mentioned Remember the Titans, she must own it!" I guess I have to clear up the fact that I DON'T! Wow, I'm really into CAPS LOCK here, aren't I? 


	10. The Kiss

~*Natalie's POV*~  
I woke up that Saturday feeling particularly cheerful. There were bunches of reasons. A.) Luis asked me to be his girlfriend. B.) I got to go to dance today. C.) Luis and I had a song that was *our* song. D.) I hadn't seen Elisha since seven the night before. And E.) Luis was my boyfriend! Okay, so three of those reasons were practically the same thing. But the other two were sure causes for celebration, too. I was just lying in bed, basking in the feeling of contentment, when someone knocked on the door. Great, here I was, sitting on cloud nine (in my pajamas!) and now I had to get up and answer the door (in my pajamas!). People need to have better timing. Like, preferably an hour later. Yeah, that'd be good. So anyway, I coaxed myself out of bed ad looked out the peephole to find none other than: Luis! I was reaching for the doorknob eagerly when I realized how I looked. Panicking slightly, (like screaming in my head "NO!!! NO, HE CANNOT SEE ME LIKE THIS!!) I ran a hand through my hair and tried unsuccessfully to tame it.  
"Natalia? Natalie, are you in there? It's Luis! I came so we could walk to breakfast together." He called through the door.  
"Just a second!" I scrambled around, looking for my brush. There was Elisha's, but there was no way I was using *that*. Not just because she wasn't exactly my best friend in the whole world, but also because she never cleaned the hair off her brush, and I'm kind of a compulsive neat freak, so I really couldn't stand the thought of brushing my hair with hers on the brush. A shudder ran through me ever thinking about it.  
"Natalie, are you okay?" SCORE!! Found it. And there was even a few hair ties wrapped around the handle. Ten points for being unwittingly crafty! I quickly threw my hair into a ballet bun and practically ripped the door open.  
"Hey, Luigi!" I said casually, yawning a little, nonchalant and very cool-like.  
"Hey," he answered, a little puzzled. He opened his mouth, probably to ask what took me so long to open the door, but then thought better of it and just smiled. "Um, so, do I get the pleasure of watching you dance again today?"  
"Oh, wow, if you want to." Michael had watched me dance one. Then he'd informed me that seeing my jelly thighs wiggle while I butchered the steps was too much pain for him to handle. Translation: he didn't like watching me dance and never came again.  
"Of course I want to. I gotta support my girl," Luis flashed me a cheeky grin, and, holding back a smile of my own, I gave him a dirty look.  
"Your girl? What, like, I belong to you? Am I an animal or an object, that you can claim ownership of me?" Now Luis looked scared, and I had to dig my nails into my palm to keep from laughing.  
"Um, Natalie, whoa, I didn't mean anything by it, you know? I mean-"  
"Relax!" I said, laughing. "I was just kidding. I love hearing you say that I'm 'your girl' because I've only had Michael as a boyfriend before, and well, that speaks for itself." His eyes bugged out and he gave me a fake glare.  
"You know, woman, you play me bad!"  
"Oh, boy, you better take that back!"  
"Hey, I gave you woman you give me boy?" I didn't get what he was saying, and I guess it showed, because he went on, "I mean, shouldn't you have said man or something?" That made me laugh out loud.  
"You sure are a funny *boy* Luigi. So, we going to breakfast or what?"  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
Natalie kept me on my toes, that's for sure. When she played a joke on you, she could keep her face totally serious, so I wasn't really sure if she was kidding or not. But it was a good thing, really, because no other girl could make me laugh the way she could. She was, in a word, amazing. I couldn't explain the way I was feeling; it was so great that I was afraid that if I dwelt on it for too long it would be snatched away from me. That was basically what happened to everything else that had ever been happy in my life.  
"Luigi? Luigi! Hey, are you okay?" Natalie was staring at me concernedly, snapping me out of my haze. I grinned and whispered in her ear,  
"As long as you're here." I know, I'm really cheesy. But hey, she seemed to like it. She blushed and giggled a little. We got to the table, eventually. And when we did, the whole team was staring at us. I felt Natalie shrink a little under all those eyes, even if they were friendly eyes.  
"Hey guys. What's up?" I was still holding on to Natalie around her waist when I realized the only people who knew about us were Dwayne and Goldberg. Giving her a little squeeze, I proclaimed proudly to the team, "We're a couple. As of last night." They all looked either shocked or smug. Later I found out they had a pool going on how long it would take after the dance for us to hook up. Ken was closest with two hours. Connie and Julie both split into beaming grins and Julie said,  
"Hey, Nat, come with us to buy breakfast, kay?" Natalie looked a little startled at the 'Nat' part, but seemed pleased to be included.  
"I'll pay," I offered. The three girls looked at each other. Words flew between them unspoken.  
"It's okay, Luis. It's not like I need help financially." Natalie pointed out.  
"I know, but I want to."  
"Um, Luis," Connie started. Guy broke in with,  
"Luis, c'mere. Lemme talk to you for a sec." He leaned over the table (kinda making the 'come here' part pointless, you know?) and whispered to me. "You hafta let them go alone. So they can go talk about you." I was shocked.  
"Why are they going to talk about me behind my back?" I asked, a little hurt. Guy rolled his eyes.  
"Not talk trash about you, 'girl' talk about you. You know, how romantic it was when you asked her to go out with you, what song it was, how long it took her to realize she definitely wanted to say yes, blah blah blah. By the time they get breakfast and come back they'll probably have your whole life story laid out."  
"Oh." Was I comfortable with that thought? That soon Natalie would know what kind of guy I had been before this summer? Maybe it was better that she knew. I turned to the girls and said, "Uh, why don't you ladies go ahead. You know, so you can do your girl talk and whatever." The each gave me smiles as they walked off, heads close together as they talked and giggled about something. Guy had his eyes closed and was shaking his head slowly, as if in shame.  
"What?" I asked defensively.  
"Luis," he said slowly. "You weren't supposed to let them *know* you knew about their girl talk. You were supposed to let them have their moment."  
"What moment?" I asked incredulously.  
"Their superior moment. Where they feel like we don't know what they're talking about." I stared at him; about to tell him just how stupid I thought he sounded, when Russ broke in.  
"Dude, Guy, you've only had one girl your whole life. So how come you're giving *Luis*, of all people, advice about the ladies?"  
"It's all about the quality of the relationship, Russ." I piped up. Averman cracked up and asked,  
"Okay, did Luis just use the word 'relationship' in a sentence?"  
"No, really, shut up and listen to me," I said eagerly. I wanted them to know that I was a new Luis. "See, it's true, Guy has only been with Connie, and-no offence, Guy-has no real flirting skills and isn't that smooth. I, on the other hand, was a total jerk to every girl I came in contact with and tried to sweep her off her feet, that is, until someone better came along. And I mean, I *got* every girl I wanted. I've never had a girl say no to me. Well, say good-bye to that Luis, because he's gone, guys, really. I'm sick of it. So I'm changing." I felt just a scoach stupid after giving that big dramatic speech, but thought maybe they'd be all inspired and whatever. Duh, these are the Ducks! They burst out laughing, except for Averman. He was rocking back and forth in his seat chanting,  
"Must remember whole speech, must remember whole speech," over and over again. I stood there, hands on my hips, and said,  
"Hey! I was serious, you know." They laughed harder. The vision of me standing with my hands on my hips was apparently too much for Averman. He joined in the laughter and mocking. "I'm going to get some breakfast." I muttered and slunk off.  
  
~*Julie's POV*~  
We were still in earshot when Luis was talking. It sounded like he was bragging about getting all the girls he wanted. I glanced at Natalie out of the corner of my eye, and her back was all stiff. Connie was looking at the ground. The last thing we heard was "I've never had a girl say no to me!" That caused an uneasy silence.  
"So, Natalie," I said, breaking the hush. "Um, do you like watching the hockey games?" She looked like she was about to cry.  
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, it's great." She wasn't really paying attention to me or to what she was saying.  
"Look, we didn't hear the whole conversation, okay? There's more to it, because Luis is just not like that. Don't worry about it. He's a good guy."  
"Yeah, plus, he's got it *so* bad for you." Connie added. "I've never seen him fall so fast or so hard for any girl, and we've known him for five years. He barely stopped thinking girls were icky two years before we met him!" Natalie laughed and looked way reassured.  
"So," I started in a conspirator-like tone. "Give us the dirt."  
"On what?" Natalie asked, confused.  
"On Luis, duh!" Connie exclaimed.  
"But I thought you guys knew everything about Luis, so, you know the dirt." Natalie commented wryly. I gave her a look.  
"You know what we mean. Is he a good kisser?"  
"I don't know, actually. We haven't kis--" I stopped short and Natalie didn't, so she ran into me and her nose connected squarely with the elbow that I flung up. Her nose immediately started to gush out blood, all over my arm and her clothes.  
"I'm so sorry!" I wailed. Connie grabbed a few napkins off some kid's tray and we tried to mop up the mess, but to no avail.  
"It's okay," Natalie said through cupped hands. "My nose is really sensitive. Don't worry about it." But her nose wouldn't stop bleeding, and her eyes watering. In a flash, out of nowhere, Luis was at her side.  
"Natalie, what happened?" He asked.  
"I stopped really quick and she ran into me and my elbow hit her nose and it started bleeding and it won't stop!" I explained in a rush. Guy came running over, because Connie is not good with blood. She was getting all pale and starting to wobble a little, so he put his arm around her shoulder to hold her up. One time we were playing street hockey, Russ fell on a broken bottle and totally slashed up his leg and blood was everywhere. Connie fainted before anyone could even help Russ. But she could handle her own blood. Connie's not really great with a razor and she always cuts herself, and she just slaps a band-aid on the sucker and she's fine. It's just other people's blood bothers her.  
"Chill, Cons, it's just a little nosebleed, nothing major." Guy soothed. Well, that didn't work, and two seconds later Connie was out. So Guy was half-carrying, half-dragging Connie to the nurse, and Luis had his arm around Natalie and was helping her, too, and I tagged along because I felt bad.  
"Hockey is such a dangerous sport!" Nurse Adams scolded.  
"Well, actually, we weren't playing hockey," I pointed out. "My elbow hit Natalie in the nose and her nose starting bleeding and Connie fainted because she's not good with blood."  
"Well, you hockey players should be more careful."  
"Natalie's not a hockey player," Luis piped up. With nothing else to blame us for, Nurse Adams opted to glare at us. Luis bit his lip to stop from laughing. My elbow hurt really bad and there was a little indent where Natalie's face had been. There were even teeth marks!  
"Natalie, did you bite me?" I asked incredulously.  
"I didn't mean to!" She said defensively. She sounded funny since she was holding her nose. "By bouth was open because I was talking and when your elbow hit be they just cabe down." It took me a second to work out what she was saying, but when it clicked, I nodded. "Sorry," she added.  
"It was my fault, really." I admitted. Just then, Connie woke up. Whenever she wakes up after fainting, she flails around a lot. Guy and I both had the presence of mind to move out of the way, but Luis and Natalie were not as lucky. Natalie didn't know, and Luis was too busy fussing over Natalie to realize what was going on. Until he received one of Connie's infamous sub-conscious backhands. He tried to shield Natalie from the blows, but the poor girl was not having her day. Just as her nosebleed had finally died down, Connie whacked her in the face, and it started up again. Meaning that, just as Connie woke up, she saw the blood and was out again. Luis threw up his hands and cried,  
"Oh, come on!" That pretty much summed up what we were all thinking.  
  
~*Connie's POV*~  
It's not my fault! I'm just weak with blood. Guy's the only one who knows why. It's because when I was six, my brother fell off a counter and split his head open. There was blood everywhere all over the kitchen. That picture always flashed into my mind whenever blood was anywhere, and it was so gross I just. . .lost it. When I finally came to (the second time) Natalie was the only one there. Minus the wad of tissues-this was a good sign.  
"Hey," I said weakly as I sat up.  
"Hey, you okay?" She asked.  
"Better now that there's no blood. How long have we been here?"  
"Oh, about twenty minutes." Wow, that was a new record. I'd never been out that long. Of course, I'd come to in between, albeit briefly.  
"How long ago did your nose quit bleeding?" I was peeking out from interlaced fingers. Just in case the never-ending fountain decided to make a comeback.  
"Like, thirty seconds. I'm about out of blood, I swear."  
"That's definitely a good thing."  
"You ready to get out of here? You have practice in an hour." I groaned at that one. It's not that I didn't want to go to practice. I just didn't want to get up. Natalie gave me a sympathetic smile and offered me a hand.  
As we walked across campus, we had to pass through a bunch of preppy kids playing some preppy game. I'd played the game once at my grandmother's house, but I couldn't remember the name. I just remembered it was a really boring game. Suddenly, a stream of freezing cold water hit me from behind. A shriek from Natalie signaled that she'd gotten the same thing.  
  
~*Preppy Kid's POV*~  
We were playing a nice game of croquet on the lawn when suddenly, two girls, dripping wet and screaming, ran through our game. I recognized one as a girl from the Ducks. The other one tripped over my ball and scrambled up; laughing so hard she could hardly move. The other was also giggling like mad. They eventually made it through, after somehow desecrating our field and trampling the grass down. They were followed by a hoard of boys and one girl, the entire Ducks team, all holding water guns and shooting at them.  
"Hey, we were playing here!" I yelled. One boy, the captain, stopped and turned around for a second.  
"Oh, sorry about that," he said. But then someone shot him and with a yelp and a shake to get us wet as well, he was gone. They were shooting everyone in sight-including, on accident (I assume), our new Dean, Dean James Jamison. He'd been staring at the Ducks contemptuously when he was hit. And everyone froze and stared.  
"My office-now!" All of them were still giggling quietly as they followed him to his office.  
"Serve them right." I sniffed.  
  
~*Adam's POV*~  
We were in big trouble. Man, I was having a total blast! And then I had shot at Goldberg, who had sidestepped, and the jet of water had blasted the Dean. Oops.  
"What do you have to say for yourselves?" Russ opened his mouth to talk, but Kenny covered it quickly.  
"Pick another target!" He whispered, and remembering the game in freshman year, we all started laughing again.  
"Listen up!" Dean Jamison snapped. "You're behavior is unacceptable. I've given this some thought" when, on the way here? "and I've decided that your game on Friday will be forfeited." That was insane!  
"Oh come on!" I yelled loudly. "You're throwing a hissy fit because we got your precious Armani suit wet!" Holy crap! Did *I* just yell that? Uh-oh. Now Dean Jamison was really steamed.  
"Adam Banks! You are--"  
"Sir," Natalie broke in. "Really, this is all my fault. I. . .I'm the one who squirted you. And I'm the one who gave everyone the water guns. Don't punish the Ducks, please."  
"Natalie, I'm very surprised at you. Well, I guess I can't punish the team, if they did nothing wrong" he looked disappointed at this "but I will have to punish you. You may go, except Ms. Richterdson." We started to protest, and Natalie just gave us all a glare, so we filed out and waited by the door. Luis looked ticked.  
"We should have told him the truth! Now Natalie's gonna get in trouble!" He hissed, pushing his ear to the door. Solemnly, the entire team followed suit.  
"Natalie," the words were faint, but there. "I don't understand. Why are you hanging out with kids such as these?" That miffed us a little.  
"They're my friends. And what's wrong with them? All of them have B averages, at least, and they stay out of trouble." I laughed a little on the inside, imagining Dean Jamison's face.  
"Natalie. . .you need to think about the families of these people. Except for Adam Banks, they aren't worth your time. In fact, I think you should consider dating Mr. Banks. He'd be a much better choice than that Mendoza boy you're with." Luis stiffened next to me, and I laid a hand on his shoulder. I shook my head, showing him I wasn't after his girlfriend. He smiled gratefully at me and turned his attention back to the door.  
"There is *nothing* wrong with Luis. Adam is my friend, and sure, he's cute, but I just couldn't think of him like that. Luis is sweet, funny, smart, cute, and everything I need. So I think you should back off." Dang, she was nervy, talking to the Dean like that. He wasn't the kindest man, after all.  
"Natalie, I'm thinking of calling your father and telling him who you're hanging around while you're at school."  
"You go right ahead. Now, look, am I getting punished for this whole squirt gun thing, or can I go?"  
"You may go." "Thank you." We heard her footsteps pause, and she added, "Oh, and Uncle James? I'd hang out with the Ducks at home, too." When she came out, Luis gave her a big hug. "Why'd you do that?" He asked into her hair. "Because if the game got forfeited, I wouldn't get to watch you play." "I hate to interrupt this touching moment," Charlie interjected. "But, thanks Natalie. And also, why did we not know the new Dean was your uncle?" "Um, because I never told you?" "Yeah, and why?" "Well, you've met him. Would you brag about him?" I laughed out loud. Natalie poked me. "Adam knows what I'm talking about." "Yeah," I admitted. "I've got uncles like that. And my dad, sometimes." My dad could get a little too intense, but he was a good guy. Luis had his arm comfortably around Natalie's waist as we walked down to the rink. "Hey-are you gonna watch us?" I asked. "Mm, I dunno. Do you guys want me to?" She was always so uncertain about herself. Didn't she have any self-confidence? "Well, you have an obligation now," Fulton said. "You have to suffer through our practice now that we have a game Friday."  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~ After practice was over, Luis came over to the bench I was occupying and leaned in to talk to me. "Hey, baby," he crooned in my ear. I laughed and shoved him away. "You stink!" "Oh, all right, fine. I guess I'll go shower then." "Yeah, you'd better." He flashed me a grin and skated backwards, blowing me kisses. I was already laughing, but when he tripped over Guy, tears streamed down my face. My laughter could probably be heard through the whole school. When he finally came out of locker room twenty minutes later, he smelled much better. "Okay, now, when's dance?" He asked. "Um, we gotta leave like now. I just hafta change first." "To your room, then!" Luis announced zealously. I gave him a look, and he added hastily, "*That* is not what I meant! I'll be a good boy, I swear." We raced each other up the stairs to my room, crashing into each other and the walls and making a big ruckus. Luis won. Elisha whipped the door open. "You woke me up!" She snapped angrily. "We have dance in like ten minutes. You shoulda been up anyway!" "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Karin's sick, so we don't have class today." "Ah, man!" I whined. "Oh, and poor Karin. Is it just the flu or what?" "Don't know." Elisha answered flippantly. "Now go away." We were happy to oblige, racing down the stairs again. This time I won. "Ha!" I crowed. "Well, now what are we going to do?" I had my hands on my hips and was biting my lip, trying to think of something. "I know exactly what we could do!" Luis yelled. He sounded like he just answered the Double Daily question on Final Jeopardy. "But it's a surprise. C'mon. Let's go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the school. He held my hand all the way to his car. If it were anyone else, I probably would have put up a fuss, demanding to know where we were going. But it was Luis, and I trusted him totally. "Ta-da! Here we are!" "A greenhouse?" I asked. What were we going to do, garden? "Yeah! Well, there's a garden inside. Fruit, vegetables, flowers. The works!" "Great. . ." I said as we went in. I had to admit, it was kind of cool inside. Outside, it was raining and freezing cold. But it was warm inside and smelled like summer. "Wow," I whispered. "Told ya!" Luis whispered back. "Why are we whispering?" "I dunno." "Oo, look, baby tomatoes!" I shrieked. Several people stared as I ran over to the plot, Luis a few feet behind me. "They're called cherry tomatoes, you know." The sign read DO NOT EAT. I wanted one really bad, though. "Oh, I can't have one! I haven't had a baby tomato since summer. That's like, two months!" Luis glanced both ways, then over both shoulders. Before I knew what he was doing, he reached over the bar, grabbed one, and popped it into my wide-open mouth. My mouth was open because I was surprised at him. But it was so good. They were really big, and a little juice dribbled down my chin. Luis wiped it away, and our faces were inches apart. With his eyes, he asked permission, and I smiled. The world slowed down as I waited. His soft lips brushed mine and grabbed hold. And the world stopped.  
  
That's a pretty long chapter, I guess. Was the kiss part a little melodramatic? I don't really know. . .what do you think? Review, review, review, people! I'm working on the next chapter. Trouble ahead for our lovebirds. . .mwahaha. 


	11. Hook Ups and Break Ups

~*Luis's POV*~  
I'd never had such a kiss. I mean, I've had a few kisses in my life (well, maybe more than a few-but not as many as people think) and I still felt. . .dazed. When we finally split apart, we had matching dreamy smiles on our faces. Then some manager came over and started yelling about eating the tomatoes. . .someone must have seen that part and told on us. But it didn't matter. I had just kissed Natalie. I'd kissed her! I wanted to scream it out, let anyone and everyone know how happy I was. We were kicked out of the greenhouse, and walked hand in hand back to my car. We didn't stop and kiss along the way, though I kind of wanted to. Our first kiss was still lasting. I was sure the whole world had been affected, like before we were spinning helter-skelter and now everything was right.  
"Luigi?"  
"What?" I said automatically.  
"You spaced. Are you all right?" She seemed concerned, but still had that silly grin on her face.  
"Well, I guess it's easy to space after a kiss like that." She blushed. I loved making her blush, not because I liked it when she was embarrassed, but I loved the idea that I could make her blush. When we got back to school, it was past lunchtime. We found the entire team outside, sitting around on the lawn, doing nothing.  
"Hey guys, what are you doing out here in the rain?"  
"Waiting for you! Remember how we decided to all go out for lunch today?" Charlie didn't seem as ticked as he sometimes got when someone forgot a team function, but he was a little upset.  
"Oh yeah. . ."  
"Oh yeah."  
"Ah, give him a break, Charlie," Dwayne spoke up. "He was out with his lil' lady. You know what that can do to your brain!"  
"And exactly what is a lil' lady, Dwayne?" Connie asked, laughing.  
"You know. His. . .honey."  
"His what now?" Dwayne finally worked out that Connie was just teasing him and grinned at her.  
"What you are to Guy!" He yelled triumphantly. Though, I don't see why he was triumphant. Maybe I'd missed something. Natalie was laughing. Man, she was so beautiful. I love the way her face scrunches when she laughs, I thought. And her hair. . .it swishes around a lot. I just wanted to run my hand through it and twirl it in my fingers and-  
"Luis?" I was pulled away from my thoughts. Can't I get a break? I don't get many thoughts and people keep taking them away. Rude. Everyone was looking at me expectantly. Who had asked me a question? Uh, something about lunch. . .  
"Yeah, that sounds good. Me, too." I answered, hoping that answer worked for whatever question it was. Apparently it was, because Charlie said,  
"All right. Let's go. I'll drive, Luis you can drive, and Adam'll drive. Everyone else, pick a car, any car." As we scrambled for seats, I whispered to Natalie,  
"Where are we going?"  
"I don't know. I gave the same answer as you." Goldberg heard us and laughed.  
"You guys are so hopeless. We're going to Applebee's."  
"Thanks, Goldie," I told him gratefully. He was coming through for me more and more lately. I was sure lucky to have a friend like him.  
  
~*Goldberg's POV*~  
After lunch, Natalie and Luis disappeared again. They said something about taking a walk. Whatever. The rest of us were hanging out in Charlie and Adam's room, talking.  
"Natalie and Luis are *so* cute!" Julie squealed. Averman opened his mouth to give some smart answer about Jules thinking Natalie was cute, but she added a hasty "Together, I mean. Shut up, Averman!"  
"They had their first kiss today!" Connie added. Also in a high- pitched squeal. My ears were starting to ring. "You could tell, because they were both so out of it and dazed. And Luis could *not* get rid of that dreamy smile." Julie and Connie looked at each other and both emitted this scream, jumping up and down.  
"Oh, blow, what was that?!" Portman cried, hands over his ears.  
"We're gonna have dogs running over here any second now!" Fulton whined.  
"What was that, Portman? Oh blow?" Adam asked as the rest of us cracked up. Portman looked quite proud of himself.  
"I'm trying to quit swearing!" He proclaimed. "My mom was coming after me all summer. And this way, I can tell her if she thinks that's bad, she just has a dirty mind! Heh heh."  
"You guys! Aren't you listening?? They had their first *kiss*!" Connie stamped her foot angrily.  
"Guy, tell your girlfriend to stop being a freak show. I would, but I'm scared she'll bite me." Averman said. Connie snapped her teeth at Averman. "So what if they had their first kiss? Lots of people have first kisses." Just then, Luis and Natalie burst in through the door. "Hey, guys," Natalie panted breathlessly. Russ raised an eyebrow. "And what were you two doing?" "Huh? Oh, we were racing. I won." "No way!" Luis countered. "I definitely won. I beat you by like a mile." "You wish! I *so* beat you." They were shoving each other playfully while we stared at the utter grossness of it all. So, I did the only thing possible. I made gagging noises and rolled on the ground like I was dying. "Ha, ha." Luis said, rolling his eyes at me. Ken laughed and gave me a high five. "So, guys," Julie broke in. "Um, us girls are gonna go now. Okay? And yes, Luis, it's so we can do our 'girl talk and stuff' or whatever it was you said." Luis flushed a little at this, but laughed along with the rest of us. After the girls were gone, Ken turned to Luis. "So, did you guys kiss?" Luis got all starry-eyed. "Yeah. It was so. . .I don't know, mind-boggling." We laughed at his choice of words. But though I was laughing inside, I felt sick inside. Everyone was falling in love. I know, I'm being cheesy, but seriously. Luis and Natalie, Connie and Guy (again), Charlie and his girlfriend Tammy, and Dwayne had a secret admirer or something like that. Maybe it was selfish, but. . .what about me?  
  
~*Connie's POV*~ I flopped down onto my bed, facing Natalie while Julie got some snacks. "All right. Give us the dish!" I dug into my bowl of cookie dough ice cream as soon as Julie plunked it in front of me, but Natalie was doing something to hers. When she caught me and Julie staring, she explained, "I only want the cookie dough. I don't want the chocolate chip ice cream. It's gross." Julie and I exchanged a glance. The funny thing was, Luis never ate his cookie dough. He picked all the chunks of it out, gave it to someone else, and just ate the vanilla and chocolate chip ice cream. "Well, anyway, talk to us." Julie finally said after we ate in silence for a little. "Mm, well, whaddaya want to know?" "How did it happen?" I shrieked. "It was so romantic," she sighed. Then the whole story came tumbling out "He took me to this green house place I'd never been to, and it was raining outside, and we went in and I saw some baby tomatoes, so I ran over there, but you're not supposed to eat them, and Luis took one and I ate it and he brushed away the juice off my chin, and it was like, all magical, and. . .he kissed me. Oh, it was so perfect. Guys, I think I'm in love with him." "Awwwww!" Julie cried. "It *sounds* perfect!" "When did you and Guy have your first kiss, Connie?" I laughed. "Second grade! It was the night of our play-I was a princess, Guy was a pirate, and he had to kidnap me, and afterwards he came up and said sorry for kidnapping me. And I told him it was okay, and he told me I did a good job, and I really was a princess, and then I kissed him and ran away." "That's so cute!" Natalie giggled. "It's like one of those Precious Moments calendars. And it's such a perfect story to tell, like, kids and grand-kids." I knew that was true. How many times had I played over the scene in my mind? "All right, Julie. Your turn." "Well, I don't have a boyfriend right now, guys." "Then tell us about your first kiss ever," Natalie urged. "Okay," Julie said reluctantly. "It was with this guy named. . .Steve. And he took me. . .bowling. So I bowled a strike, and he kissed me. That's all. Nothing special." "Hmm, what bowling alley was this, Jules? The one in Made Up land?" I teased. She gave me a dirty look. I knew she didn't want to tell us about her first kiss. I'd never been able to weasel it out of her, though I suspected it was with Scooter. "Come on, just tell us!" Natalie whined. "How awful could it be? Not any worse than your made up Steve kiss at the made up bowling date." Jules sighed. "Guys, I've never. . .I haven't had a first kiss yet." We both stared in astonishment at her. It was junior year and Jules had virgin lips? "What about Scooter?" I asked when I finally found my voice. "We went for a month, and no kiss. And no one else has asked me out since." "That's because Scooter is a total dip head!" Natalie burst out. We looked over at her. She'd been very quiet since Julie started talking. "No, look. Elisha, my roommate, went out with him, you know. So he was over at our room a lot. To pick her up, I mean. They never stayed there. Anyway, Scooter dumped her after like a week because he wasn't over you. But, he was too stubborn to go crawling back to you, so he told every guy he would beat them up if they went out with you." "Oh my gosh! I swear I will kill him!" I yelled. Julie looked like she was thinking the same thing, and Natalie just had an apologetic look on her face. "So, no one is *ever* going to ask me out again because Scooter's a-" "Well, maybe not, Jules." I interrupted hastily before she could get to the point of her sentence. "Think about it. Who's scared of Scooter?" "Oh, so you're saying I haven't got asked out because people just don't want to go out with me?" Ok, that's not what I was going for. "No! What I *meant* was. . ." That hadn't been what I was saying, but now I couldn't think of anything else to fill in the blank. "What she meant was, at first people were scared of him, just because it's common knowledge that he's a hockey player," Natalie supplied. "But maybe, since he hasn't been a hotbed of fighting, people aren't scared anymore, and they'll be asking you out like crazy. Besides, he's graduated now, so people won't be scared that he's gonna find out." "I guess." Jules commented in a small voice. "Guys, I'm gonna go for a walk, okay?" "Yeah, and I better go. I gotta finish some homework." Natalie stood up and was gone in a flash, and, after grabbing her coat and sending me a smile to tell me she wasn't mad, Jules was gone after her. So I was alone, with nothing to do. I could go find Guy, but he was doing homework and cleaning his dorm. Ken had finally put his foot down when they found mold growing out of Guy's dirty laundry that was all over the floor. And anyone on the same floor as them who thought Ken was a quiet, passive little guy had changed their mind quickly when they heard him yelling at my beau. Briefly, I considered helping, then dismissed it with a shudder. I was willing to do almost anything for Guy. But helping him clean his room was where the 'almost' part came in. So I did some math homework. Stared out the window. Rearranged my sock drawer. Cleaned up around the dorm. Sang along with the radio. About half an hour later, Jules burst into the room. It wasn't a happy burst. But it wasn't a mad one, either. It was more like she was troubled over something and needed help. "What's up?" I asked, picking up a shirt off the floor. "Um, I just got asked out." I dropped the shirt. "Yay!!" I screamed. "Connie. . .it was by Portman." "Yay!!" I screamed again. "You're not mad that Portman asked me out?" "Why would I? Oh, yeah. But I don't care. Come on, I have Guy again. Portman and you would be so cute together! You said yes, didn't you?" "I told him I'd ask you." "Well, run down there and tell him yes. Go!" "Cons, are you sure?" Duh. Portman had liked Julie *forever*--or at least since the Goodwill Games. And now they were finally hooking up! "Of course! You *do* want to go out with him, don't you?" She flushed. "Well. . ." She sort of looked down and shuffled her feet, her face lit up with a smile. "Uh-huh. Just what I thought. Now go!" A fond smile of my own crossed my lips, and I felt a little like a mom, watching Julie glide out the door. It reminded me of the first time I met Guy. Humming and smiling to myself, I looked out the window at the drizzle, suddenly needing to see my Guy's face. Even if it meant helping him clean his mess.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~ I was leaving Charlie and Adam's room later, after hanging out with the guys. We played a few video games, watched some TV, just did nothing really. It was great. As I walked by Natalie's room, I decided I *had* to see her. I needed to kiss her, really, is what I needed. So I knocked on the door, disappointed when Elisha opened it. "Oh, hello, Luis." She crooned. "Natalie's in the bathroom. Why don't you come in?" A sly smirk was on her face, and my gut told me not to go in. "Um, no, I'll just stay right here and wait for her," "Please, it's no problem for you to come in." After a little hesitation, I decided I was being silly. What was so scary about going into Natalie's room? Well, I should have known that Connie and Julie would keep her talking longer than the guys and I would hang out. But I went in anyway. "So, Luis. How is hockey going?" "It's going. . .good." I glanced at the bathroom door. Closed. "Mm-hmm, that's nice." I got the feeling she wasn't listening to me. "Um, does Natalie know I'm here?" Elisha waved her hand dismissively. "Of course." We heard footsteps down the hall, and a key scraping in the lock. Just as the door started to open, Elisha lunged at me and kissed me. Just as Natalie stepped into the room.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~ I couldn't believe my eyes. There was Luis and Elisha, deep in a lip-lock. As I stood there, dumbfounded, Luis shoved Elisha away. "Natalie, I swear, she kissed me out of nowhere! I came to see you and she told me you were in the bathroom, so I came in to wait, and. . ." He trailed off as my eyes filled with tears. His own eyes looked so sincere. "Natalie." He whispered. "I swear. Can we go talk?" Wordlessly, I nodded. As we stepped outside, Luis gave Elisha a shockingly hateful glare. "Luis, how, why. . .?" I couldn't even go on. "Natalie. I promise you, I did *not* want to kiss her. The only girl I thought of kissing was you." Rubbing my cheek delicately with his thumb, he whispered the words to me. And I have to say, he was convincing me. "Natalie. I. . .I love you." My heart stopped, then hammered away. But then. . .Elisha's voice floated to me. ~"He'll tell you he loves you. . ."~ . . .and Luis's own voice. . . ~"No girl has ever said no to me. . ."~ I pulled away from his hand like it was searing hot. "Luis Mendoza. People warned me about you. But I chose not to believe them." I was sobbing. "I thought. . .I thought you were different. I thought you could actually love me. But now. . ." I shook my head and groped behind me for the doorknob. "I don't ever want to talk to you again!" I slammed the door behind me for emphasis.  
  
Sorry it took so long for the update, guys. I was buried under mountains of homework. And I kinda got a touch of that awful virus called *writer's block*. Awful sickness. Anywho, I was just wondering-IS ANYONE READING THIS???? That was a subtle hint to review and tell me if you are or not. . .other wise I'm talking to myself, and though I don't mind that *too* much, people tend to make fun of you if you do it too much. Just tell me if the chapter was crap or if it was okay or SOMETHING people. 


	12. Losers In Room 267

Okay. For some reason, ff.net is not putting the conversations on the next paragraph and I don't know why. So I went and looked through it, and it was this huge block of words! I was like jeebies. Anyway, sorry for that. And sorry for the long wait. I've decided this chapter is mainly going to focus on Dwayne and his shadow girl and Goldberg and his love troubles, and maybe some Averman, too. A break from Natalie/Luis problems, just cuz I'm mean like that. And it's only one chapter! Their trials and tribulations will be back before you know it. Probably before you want to know it. And I decided that things in ~~ there are either thoughts or flashbacks. I'll let you know if it's a flashback, but if it doesn't say flashback, it's thoughts. You probably could've figured that out. Go, read, people!  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
I had no idea what that was about! I stood there like a dork, staring at the closed door, for like five minutes before finally trudging off to my dorm.  
"Hey, Luis. What's up?" Dwayne made the mistake of asking when I walked in.  
"I think. . .I think Natalie just broke up with me!" I know I sounded amazed, but I couldn't help it. I was in total shock. And hurt was almost starting to surface.  
"But. . ." Dwayne started slowly. "But, didn't you guys just get together last night?" Thanks, Cowboy. Rub it in.  
"Yes." I snapped, stomping over to my bed. Then I felt bad for yelling at Dwayne. It wasn't his fault. "So, Dwaynie boy, what's up with your shadow girl lately?" He looked a little surprised that I cared, but answered nonetheless.  
"Well, we talk every night. . .I just haven't seen her face. But she's so great."  
"What do you talk about?" Probably only Dwayne could be in love with a girl he's never formally met.  
"We talk about the team. She asks about you a lot, since you're my roommate. But we also talk about home. My home, since I don't know if it's her home, too."  
"That's cool." I wasn't exactly listening as best I could, and before I realized it, Dwayne was gone!  
"Oookay. . ." I said to the empty dorm.  
  
~*Dwayne's POV*~  
I just left Luis standing there, talking to himself. I had to go meet *her* right then. I couldn't wait any longer. But when I got out there. . .she wasn't there. I waited until midnight, and she didn't come. Finally, at half past one, I slowly wandered into the dorm building, sneaking now so I wouldn't get caught. Why hadn't she come? We always met at ten o'clock by the cluster of trees surrounding the benches. That way she could stay in the shadow. Maybe. . .maybe she'd lost interest in me? The thought made me ache, so I shoved it away. I lay back on my pillows, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. About an hour later, I realized no snores were cracking the air. No one was asleep in room 267.  
"Sleep well?" Goldberg asked Luis the next morning. Luis just gave him a bleary-eyed stare.  
"Me and Natalie broke up." He said.  
"Oh. . ."  
"Mm-hmm."  
"Well," I broke in. "If it makes you feel any better, she didn't show up last night."  
"Who, Natalie?" Luis wondered, then recovered with, "Oh, why not?" I just shrugged.  
"Well, what about you, Goldie? How's your love life going?"  
"It's not."  
"I see. Well, how about us losers go down to breakfast, then?" I guess we were all feeling pretty sorry for ourselves.  
  
~*Goldberg's POV*~  
I stared at all the beautiful girls surrounding me. ~Why can't one of you be mine?~ I thought wistfully. ~Any one of you?~  
"Greg? Greg Goldberg?" I turned my head slowly to see a girl standing there. A girl who wasn't Connie or Julie. I blanched and felt panic rising up and down my stomach.  
"What?"  
"Hi. Um, I'm new in your fifth period history class, and the teacher gave me your name for the notes." Now the panic was spreading to my sweat glands. I'm sure my face got all shiny. Connie had been bugging me about using some sort of oil-control moisturizer since seventh grade, and now I really wished I'd taken her up on that offer.  
"Oh," I choked out. The girl looked at me strangely.  
"Yeah. I'm Sira Anthony, by the way." I smiled nervously at her. She didn't smile back. "Can I use your notes or not?" She asked impatiently. Slightly taken aback, I reached into my backpack, pulled out my history notebook, and wordlessly handed it to her. She smiled and left. Didn't even say thank you! I was feeling a little indignant, so I stuck my tongue out at her back. ~Take that. And I *better* get my notebook back. Oo, a donut.~  
  
~*Dwayne's POV*~  
I was walking down the hall when I heard a familiar voice. It was her! I spun around quickly and searched wildly for her face. There! I ran over to her.  
"Hi, um, look, you never told me your name, and I was just wondering. . ."  
"Where I was last night?" My heart beat faster. So it *was* her! I nodded, my stomach in knots.  
"Well, I just don't need you anymore. I was using you anyway to get to Luis, and now that I've broken him and his girlfriend up, I can get him by myself." She smiled and condescendingly patted my arm. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure there's someone looking for a guy just like you." Then she smirked and muttered, "Though, I don't know who would, but, you know." Her words slapped me in the face. I wanted to moan right then and there, but refused to let her see how much she hurt me. I still didn't even know her name. Breaking the silence, her friend turned to her and asked,  
"Hey, Elisha, you coming?"  
  
This chapter was REALLY short. Mainly because I couldn't think of anything to put in it. But yeah. The next chapter is going to be entirely Luis and Natalie, alternating between their POVs. So anyway, review!  
Luvz and hugz,  
Crazy 


	13. Silence Is Golden?

~*Luis's POV*~  
I was in a daze of pain on Sunday. The shock had worn off and left hurt in it's place. Hurt because Natalie didn't trust me. Hurt because she thought I was a scumbag. But mostly hurt because Natalie didn't love me back.  
Suffice it to say I didn't have much fun Sunday.  
"Come on, Luis, get up!" Goldberg coaxed.  
"No. I'm fine, thanks." Frustrated, Goldberg threw his hands up and turned away. I didn't feel too bad about being antisocial. I didn't really have any 'feeling bad' left.  
"Well, how about you, Dwayne?" Dwayne shook his head. He'd walked in from breakfast, looking shell-shocked, and refused to say anything. I suspected it had to do with that girl, but maybe I'd done something to offend him, because he kept shooting discreet glares my way. I didn't want to go to breakfast. I didn't want to go hang out with the team. I'd have to get up in a minute and go to practice, but that would be all I would go to. I only planned on going to practice because I valued my position on the team. And hopefully hockey would make me feel better. Hitting people, skating fast, feeling the biting cold of the rink air on my face. I perked up a little just thinking about it. Unfortunately, the thought of forcing myself out of bed to *get* to practice made me feel more despondent than before.  
"Luis, *please* get up. We're gonna be late for practice!" Muttering obscenities under my breath, I heaved myself up and wordlessly flung myself out the door. Dwayne and Goldberg followed, Dwayne silently, Goldberg with a triumphant crow of  
"Ha!"  
When we got to the locker room, it was the usual scene of havoc. Portman and Averman were arm wrestling (big mystery who the winner there'll be), Ken and Russ were arguing over who knows what, and Charlie was yelling at everyone to hurry up so we could get out on the ice. My stomach clenched when I heard Connie and Julie gossiping about all the 'hot' couples.  
Natalie and I were on that list, but I couldn't bring myself to correct them.  
"So, Luis," Adam asked as he threw his bag into his locker. "How's things with Natalie?" I looked down at my feet and didn't meet his gaze, staying silent and moody. Luckily for me, Coach came in and blew that annoyingly shrill whistle.  
"Every body out on the ice, now! We're wasting time." As we shuffled out, I managed to avoid Adam at all costs so he wouldn't be able to ask me again. During sprints, I was lagging. When we scrimmaged, I missed the puck completely. I tried to throw myself into the game, but I couldn't get the picture of Natalie sitting in the stands out of my head.  
"Mendoza! *Pay attention*!" Charlie called as I missed a shot for the third time. And since I kept messing up, Coach kept making us do the same plays again and again. By the end of practice, tempers were short.  
  
~*Charlie's POV*~  
"Watch it." Fulton growled when Luis accidentally bumped into him.  
"You watch it." Luis mumbled back.  
"Shut up, both of you." Averman butted in.  
"Hey, guys, let's not fight," Ken pleaded. "I've got no energy."  
"No one asked you, did they?" Portman said bluntly.  
"Leave Ken alone!" Connie yelled.  
"I can watch out for myself, I'm not helpless, you know!" Ken shouted, enraged.  
"Everybody shut up!" I bellowed. And they all stopped whatever they were doing to listen. "Now," I started, but Luis cut me off with,  
"Charlie, could you can it, please? We don't want to sit through one of your hypocritical speeches about team unity before you go off and freeze someone out for making you mad!" What? I was just trying to keep the team together. I gave him an ice-freezing glare and said, very calmly, my teeth clenched tight,  
"Well. I guess it doesn't matter if you go, Luis. You're not a real Duck anyway. You're just part of Team USA." That statement was not supposed to come out of my mouth. I really didn't mean it; I was just angry and wanting to hurt him. Mission accomplished. Without another word he left, the only evidence of his pain being those dark, dark eyes, full of pain and anger. . .  
"If Luis isn't a real Duck, I guess I'm not either." Julie's voice sounded strained and hurt.  
"Jules," I began.  
"Save it." And she joined Luis.  
"I'm part of Team USA. So I'm not a Duck, I guess." Russ left, scowling, and Ken silently followed, looking hurt and confused.  
"Charlie, are you saying we're not real Ducks? I think this is one time I actually understand something right off, and ya know, it's not a good feelin'." Dwayne shook his head and walked out the door.  
"Guys--" I tried to say something, but now it was Portman's turn.  
"That was really cold, Charlie. We only missed two years of Duckism, and suddenly we aren't really a part of the team? Well, think about this: the USA Ducks have been around longer than just the plain old Ducks." He glared, ignored the protests to my big mouth coming from Fulton, and walked out, pausing at the door to add, "I'll just go join my *real* team." The locker room was silent while the other six original Ducks gave me angry glances. Connie was the first to speak.  
"You idiot!" She shouted, and whacked me on the head. Then, to my amazement, she left! I hadn't insulted her at all, and now she was leaving!  
"Cons! Wait!" She ignored me.  
"That *was* really stupid, Spazzway," Guy accused, and followed his girlfriend.  
"I can't believe you." Fulton stalked out. Then Averman and Goldberg left, no words there, only matching looks of disgust. Finally, only Adam and I were left.  
"Well, Banksie, I guess it's just you and me, huh?" I asked ruefully. He shot me a disbelieving look and said,  
"No, Charlie. It's just you." I stood there dumbly, the only remains of my own broken team.  
Or, actually, I guess I'd just been kicked off my own team.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
After I left Luis standing outside my room, I sunk onto my bed and cried myself to sleep. When I woke up Sunday, my first thought was: how could he do this to me? And I started sobbing again. Elisha had warned me. . .Elisha! Scum of the earth! Actually, I didn't put it past her, since she hated me so much. I didn't get it. A little over a month ago, she'd told me she'd break Luis's jaw if he broke my heart. Well, he broke my heart. But I just wanted to break *her* jaw. She'd slipped out the door about a minute before I lost it totally last night, and hadn't come back yet, as far as I knew. I didn't care. Once I had no tears left, I sat up, exhausted. There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to find the one of the girls from the committee for the homecoming dance.  
"Hey, Natalie," she said. "I got a picture for you. You and Luis are so cute." She slapped the manila folder into my hand and, with a last wave, popped down the hall. Lips pressed together, breathing slowly, I pulled out the framed picture. There we were. His arms were around my waist, his head resting on my shoulder. My head was titled slightly, so our cheeks were touching. We wore matching huge grins. I got the feeling I was about to cry again, but my eyes were too tired to produce any more tears. I carefully put the picture back in the folder and shoved it to the back of my closet. I wanted to keep the picture, because it had been a wonderful night, but I just couldn't look at it now. Not yet.  
"Look, it's no big deal," Elisha's voice made me jump. Her tone was sugary sweet. "I mean, he was bound to get bored with you sooner or later; it just happened sooner." I didn't say anything, but I stormed out the door. I couldn't go back there. So where would I sleep? It was getting late. I wandered around and found myself knocking on Connie and Julie's door.  
"Natalie? What's wrong?" I started crying again.  
"I just c-can't stand her anymore!" I sobbed.  
"Come on in. You can crash here tonight." Julie hugged me before opening the door wider and allowing me to come in. Connie looked up from a magazine.  
"Hey, Nat. What's wrong?" I swiped at my tears, but it didn't help much.  
"Elisha." Was all I said. Connie made a sympathetic face and shut her magazine.  
"So--" A knock interrupted whatever she was about to say. Julie jumped up and opened it. It was Luis. He didn't see me because he was looking at the ground. But he looked crushed.  
"What's wrong?" He shook his head as answer to Connie's question.  
"I came to say thanks. You know, for backing me today after practice."  
"Charlie was being a jerk. Don't worry about it. But really, what's wrong?"  
"Natalie dumped me." And then he saw me. His eyes grew wide, and his mouth snapped shut. An awkward silence followed.  
"Maybe you should go." Connie's voice was low and angry. Luis looked surprised and turned. "Not you." She gave me an unbearable glare and spat out, "Her." I looked to Julie. Same glare. Luis started to protest, making me want to cry again.  
"Jules, Cons, don't-"  
"No, I'll go." Head hanging, I walked out. My elbow brushed against Luis's as I slipped past him, and we both jumped apart.  
"Natalie-"  
"I don't want to talk to you. But Elisha's in my room if you want her." I meant it to be spiteful, but I ended up sounded more hurt than angry, since I was already starting to cry. I thought about going back to my room, but decided to prolong it for a while. I wound up outside under a tree. In the rain. I made no move to get under cover, just stood there letting the rain soak me to the skin. My hair was plastered down to my face and my back, and I was totally alone. Before I knew what I was doing, my feet were moving, my arms were slicing through the air, and I was dancing. What other choice did I have? I'd had one of the worst days of my life, and the only other option was to sit and cry and cry. Well, I'd already done that one. So I stayed out there, dancing in the rain, letting my soul mend.  
  
Monday was hard. When I woke up, I was stiff. I woke up outside, under a tree. I was freezing cold and my back ached from a huge rock underneath me. I ran up to my dorm, thankful to find that it was only six thirty. I knew no sleep was coming, so I slipped into the shower. When I got out half an hour later, Elisha was standing outside the door, tapping her foot impatiently.  
"Fine, I guess I'll take a *cold* shower," she snapped. Instead of getting hurt and defensive, like usual, I just got pissed.  
"Serves you right." I shot back, surprising both of us. Usually I just tried to ignore her. She rolled her eyes and shoved past me into the bathroom.  
I found myself smirking at her. Frantically, I realized I was turning into a five-letter woman. You know, a witch with a capital 'B' as we used to say it in elementary school. So I wiped the evil little smirk off my face and punished myself by imaging her sucking face with Luis.  
Oh, great idea, idiot. Now I was crying.  
I needed to stop this internal fight thing. Now there was a big question hanging over my head: where was I gonna sit at breakfast? All right, so I'd skip breakfast. But then an even scarier thought came to me: Luis was still my economics partner! I groaned. Yaaaay. Not.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
School was torture, plain and simple. Not only was I hurting from Natalie, now I was hurting from Charlie's words. They stung, a lot. And tensions were high at out table at breakfast when Charlie walked in. His head was hanging, and he avoided eye contact. He strode right up to me.  
"Hey, Luis. Look, I-I'm sorry, okay? What I said. . .it was wrong. I didn't mean it. Same for all you guys. I was just mad and, I don't know. So, forgive me?" I was surprised at myself when I found I didn't really even care about it that much anymore. See, when the rest of the team followed me out, I knew he was wrong. And if Charlie was apologizing, you knew it was something big for him to swallow his pride and ask for forgiveness.  
"Of course I do. Ducks stick together."  
"Yeah, man, you sure showed me that." Averman broke the moment by making a loud sobbing noise. Wiping away an imaginary tear, he said,  
"It's just *so beautiful!*" I was about to make a smart comeback when Elisha walked in. My jaw clenched angrily. And if I'd been less wrapped in myself, I would have noticed Dwayne go overcast, too.  
"Whoa. Why are you so mad at Elisha? Other than the fact--" Julie went on to state just what she thought of that girl.  
"She's the reason Natalie dumped me. See, I went to see Natalie. Elisha told me Natalie was in the bathroom and let me go in to wait. And then Natalie walked in and Elisha kissed me." Portman stared hard at her.  
  
"She looks really familiar." Now we all stared hard at her, trying to see if we could figure out where Portman knew her from. But, how would we know, unless we could read Portman's mind? Didn't make sense, but it was really funny when she saw and felt our stares on her and self- consciously pretended she didn't, then pulled out a mirror and checked her face, finally looking around in confusion. I actually smiled.  
"What an idiot." Ken commented. That sufficiently shocked us all. Kenny Wu was saying something mean! "Hey, she deserved it!" He said defensively.  
"Yeah, but we just expected it from, like, Russ or Charlie."  
"Are you saying I'm mean?" Russ sputtered. We just stared at him, and there was a collective eye-roll. Many things with the Ducks were collective, I'd come to notice. "Uh, anyway, we better get to class," Charlie said when the bell rang. Groans erupted. Monday blues. First period was fine for me. An hour and a half of whatever I wanted, actually, since it was study hall. But that hour and a half whizzed by, and soon I had to go to economics. Oh. Crap. I walked in the door. Natalie was already there, staring straight ahead, looking very tense. When I walked in, she bit her lip and looked away. This was gonna be a long class.  
  
And it was. I sat down, and we were very quiet. I couldn't help but notice everyone around us, talking and laughing and being loud and rowdy. And then there was us. Being careful to not look at each other or touch each other or even acknowledge the other's presence. So, I turned and talked to Julie. "Hey, Jules." "Hey, Luis." In the last month, we hadn't really talked during economics because I'd been immersed in Natalie. "So. . .has your partner been bugging you anymore?" "No." She blushed. "I pointed Portman out to him last week. We weren't actually together then, but I said we were, and he backed off real quick." I laughed. Truth was, Portman would pound this guy if he ever found out what a jerk he'd been. And not even just because Julie was his girlfriend. Portman didn't like people who were jerks to girls, even though he could be sometimes. He never took it to far, though. I found myself wondering if I was like that. If everyone knew I would never take it to far, or if everyone thought. . . "All right. Today we're going to do an activity where you interact with your partner a little more." Great. "Or you can work alone." The teacher continued. Oh, good. Relief flooded through me. Natalie shifted uncomfortable beside me. We got out worksheets, and started to work silently. Finally, I couldn't take it. "Natalie--" "I'm working." It was like a slug in the stomach. She wouldn't even talk to me! "Look, I don't know why you think I would rather--" "Luis! Please." She begged. "Leave me alone." I looked away, heart aching, and went back to work.  
And silence reigned at our table once again.  
  
Well. I thought it was sorta weird there at the end. I don't know how many more chapters are coming. But I *will* finish this fic, I swear! Sometime. Anyway, review! Come on, you know you want to. Or maybe you don't want to, but you know I want you to! Hey, guess song just came on?? I Don't Want To Miss A Thing!!! What a cowinkadink! Man, I love this song!! 


	14. Relationship Rules

~*Portman's POV*~  
I was in math class, thinking about that Elisha chick. How the frick did I know her? It was really starting to irritate me that I couldn't place it. So I decided to try not to think about it. I looked up, trying to decipher the problems on the board, but that wasn't really working. I'm not stupid; I just hadn't been paying attention and had no idea what was going on. Plus, numbers get all jumbled in my head and I can't think straight. And that's when it hit me like lightning. That party! I'd met Elisha at a party last year, and she'd mentioned Luis. That's what it was. I'd told her he was going to be rooming with Goldberg and Dwayne, and how they'd have to be careful with curfew because Dwayne liked to go outside after dark and think off his 'pensive' thoughts. And she'd murmured, "Oh, the Cowboy, huh. . ." I sat up real straight just then, when that thought hit me. Dwayne had liked some girl this year, a girl he'd met at one of his late-night wanderings. And suddenly she didn't show up one night. After Luis and Natalie *happened* to break up. At Elisha's hand.  
"Oy, schizophrenic!" I yelled. Yup, that was my new curse word. But see, I was still in class.  
"Mr. Portman, we are discussing equations, if you'd like to join us. I know math is not quite your best subject-" titters rang through the room- "but please control your outbursts." My ears and cheeks burned crimson when Mr. Wheeler targeted me like that. I loved being the center of attention-on the ice. Not in the classroom. Unless I was seeking attention, which I had not been. I lowered my eyes and mumbled an apology. It was bad enough I was in a freshman math class; I didn't need to be publicly humiliated, too. Everyone called me a big dumb jock anyway, and I was trying (and sorta failing) to prove the contrary. Math just wasn't my thing. After another half an hour of class where I thought I would spontaneously combust, I finally took off when the bell rang and bumped into Dwayne, who happened to be exactly who I was looking for.  
"Dwayne!"  
"Uh, hey, Portman. Sorry bout that." I shook off his apology with a casual wave of my hand.  
"Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you-how'd your latest date with Shadow Girl go? I mean, I know it was a coupla days ago, but I still wanna know, right?"  
"Um, yeah. She didn't come." Right, I knew that.  
"Well, did you find out who she was?" Now he looked uncomfortable.  
"Yeah. . ."  
"Who?"  
"Look, Portman, it's no big deal, okay? Don't worry about me, go on back to Fulton or Julie or whoever's important."  
"Dwayne, you're important!" I said, baffled. "You know we're friends, right? I mean, we've never really been uber-close, but. But we're Ducks. It's not just that we're teammates. We're bros, okay?" He grinned a little.  
"Okay."  
"All right. Now, who is she?" He looked sad and gloomy all the sudden.  
"Oh. She's that girl, Elisha. The one who, um, broke up Luis and Natalie."  
"How come you never said anything?"  
"Well, it was worse for Luis. I didn't want people to be thinking about me when they should be cheering him up." I laughed in amazement.  
"You're really something, Dwayne." I threw my arm around him and, after some initial stiffness from him, we headed to class.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
As soon as Dwayne and Portman left, I slumped against the wall. Elisha was a dirty rat. Hurting me was one thing. But hurting Dwayne? Big mistake. See, I'd done things in life that required karmatic punishment (A/N: Is karmatic a word?) and I could handle that. But Dwayne, sweet, gullible Dwayne, had just proved once again that he didn't deserve to be treated like dirt the way he was. He'd rather everyone cheer me up because I'd broken up with Natalie rather than anyone worry about him when he got used and his heart got broken. Sadly, not many girls really fell for Dwayne, and he never really got any attention. So it seemed like someone had finally seen him, and it turns out she was using him to get to me. Right then, I felt like such a jerk. I mean, okay, so I hadn't asked Elisha to do that, but if I wasn't such a flirt, Dwayne wouldn't have gotten hurt. So I'd just have to fix things.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
I was coming out of English when I saw Luis. To my outrage, he was leaning against a row of lockers, talking and laughing with one of his regular floozies, Lindsay Smith. He'd dated her last year for three months, right to the end of the school year, but never called her over the summer. She'd called him every day for the first three weeks, and had finally concluded they were over. And now here they were, flirting up the whole hallway. As I watched, he touched her arm and said something, and she nodded. With a last smile, he left. He turned and saw me staring-our eyes met, and his went empty. I almost lost it, but instead threw myself into the conversation of a few kids nearby. When he finally shuffled past, his head was down and his shoulders slumped. He looked really pathetic and pitiful, and all I wanted to do was hug him until everything was all better. To stifle the urge, I thought of Lindsay Smith. What kind of guy ignored his girlfriend all summer until she finally gave up on him? Then I found myself rationalizing, thinking, hey, she *is* kind of annoying. With a mental shake, I scolded myself: it's his fault we broke up; he's the one who kissed Elisha. And yet, deep down, I couldn't bring myself to believe that he was cheating. When I'd walked in, they're lips were locked, and even before he'd seen me, he'd looked genuinely shocked and angry. So why'd I break it off with him then? Maybe because of his 'smooth operating' I'd heard so much about? Or maybe I just wasn't over Michael like I thought I was? But I'd liked Luis before Michael cheated on me. My head was swirling, too many thoughts crowding around in it. To make matters worse, when I got back to my room, there was a small brown box on my desk. I opened it to find a gorgeous cedar wood box. When I opened *that* the gift was revealed to me. Inside, a girl and a boy danced endlessly. The girl's dress was mine the night of homecoming, the boy had dark features, and to seal it, the song playing was I Don't Want to Miss a Thing-our song. There was a little note inside, a Post-It stuck to the little mirror. Luis's untidy scrawl was all too familiar to me.  
  
Natalie-  
I give up, all right? I had this specially made for you. I ordered it Friday night, and it just got here today. I'm sorry you don't trust me, I'm sorry your roommate is evil, and I'm just very very sorry. I still stand by what I said Saturday night though. I love you, and I'll also be sorry about that, if you want me to be. I don't know what's going on, but you hurt me bad. But I'm not going to chase after you anymore. All right? I'll leave you alone. I love you.  
Luigi  
  
The tears started as soon as I got to the part where he said he ordered it specially for me. All I could think of was how much it must have cost and where he got the money for it. And then he kept saying 'sorry's and 'I love you's all over the little note, and I couldn't handle it. Realizing I was going to be late for PE, I booked it out of there and headed to the locker room.  
  
After class, I jumped out the door, looking for Luis. Where was he? Ah! There.  
"Luis!" I yelled, and he spun around. He shifted uneasily.  
"Yeah?" Suddenly I was shy, like we were just meeting all over again.  
"Um. . .look, I'm sorry. I-I should have trusted you, and I want to get back together. If. . .that's okay. . ." He just looked at me for a minute, and I felt like I was going to cry. He didn't want to get back together. He really *didn't* love me. But then his face split into a grin.  
"Yeah."  
"Yeah?"  
"Yeah. Let's get back together. Natalia and Luigi." And he looped his arm through mine, right up close to me. Just like before.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
She came back to me. She came back! I wanted to laugh, to scream, to get on the intercom and yell, "Hey everybody! I'm back with Natalie!" But I held all those emotions in. And then the next thing she said:  
"We need to set some guidelines for our relationship." Oh great. I'm probably not going to like this. Especially since she just handed me a list.  
"Uh, sure," I responded, a little unsure.  
"It's nothing bad, I promise," she laughed, seeing the look on my face. "I just think we took things too fast before. I mean, the day after we had our first date, we kissed. If we kept going, we'd be somewhere I'm sure we're not ready to be. I think that's why Connie and Guy are so on and off in their relationship. They move to fast. I mean, when did they have *their* first kiss, third grade, did she say?"  
"Connie and Guy are perfect together," I argued. Hey, what Connie and Guy have is sacred. No body messes with Gunnie. Or Cuy. She was starting to get on some thin ice.  
"Okay, sheesh, chill." She gave me this look like I was being weird or something. But come on, she was knocking on Connie and Guy! "So anyway, I think maybe we shouldn't kiss anymore. At least not until we're both ready. You'll notice that's number one." No, I do *not* like that idea, my head immediately told me. But, if Natalie wanted it. . .whoa, I was whipped.  
"Sure, whatever you think you need to make us work." But I still didn't like that idea.  
"Next, I think we need to have at least one date a week. Preferably the same night each week, but I know you're busy with practice and everything. It's just so that there's always at least one night for the two of us, and we can be together." Okay, whatever.  
"Sure, sounds great," I forced out cheerfully.  
"But,"--oh great--"I think we should have at least one night where we *don't* go out. We can talk on the phone for ten minutes that one night, and that's all. I just think it'll make it so we have our own space, and we're not always together. Sound good?"  
"You've really thought about this a lot, haven't you?" I was truly amazed at the randomness of some her rules. Example: when we go out, my socks must match.  
"Well, I really want us to work this out, and be together and stay together this time. We can do it, I know we can, as long as we communicate and have good tactics." All right, she's using terminology I can understand-game plan. Time's almost up, we're down by one. If we make another goal, we're going for the shootout. So we needed a great plan to take it. I half-expected her to start yelling about "Defense, players, defense!"  
"You aren't listening to me. Look at number 23. 'Always listen to each other.' Okay?"  
"Natalie, is all this really necessary?"  
"Luis, of course it is! I worked on this all through study hall, I was hoping you'd understand and embrace it."  
"I do, baby, I do."  
"Obviously you don't! Look at 34!" 34. I'm not your baby, don't objectify me. I swear, she was turning into a crazy person.  
"Are you kidding me?" I asked in disbelief. Whoops. I'm sure that was breaking a rule somewhere. Yep, number 40. Last one. Sarcasm and second-guessing another's decision is not the way we want to be.  
"Luis, look, I'm trying my hardest, okay?"  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I promise I'll take this seriously, ba-hun-um, Natters."  
"Natters?" She laughed, sounding like the Natalie I'd known for the last month or so. I grinned at her, hoping she was back to normal. And since I thought she was normal, I leaned in for a kiss.  
"Luis! Rule number one, okay? You just said you'd take this more seriously and now you're-"  
"Sorry! I'm sorry, I forgot. I *promise* from now on, I will eat, breathe, and sleep these rules. Cross my heart and hope to die." Then I caught sight of the clock and took off. Over my shoulder, I called, "I have to get to practice, I'll call you!" Oh man, I thought. What the heck am I getting myself into?  
  
~*Adam's POV*~  
Luis walked in the locker room, almost on time, carrying a piece of paper and shaking his head. He told us not to look at it, it was private. So we all crowded around to see it. And none of us could believe our eyes. "Uh, you're kidding, right?" The paper was headed "Relationship Rules" and took up three sheets, typed, single-spaced, twelve size font. "I wish," he moaned. "I have to live by these if I want to keep going out with Natalie. And I *do* want to stay with her, so I'll just have to deal." "You shouldn't have to live like this!" Portman called. "Look at this- 'after games, if you go out with the team, you have to tell me who, outside the team, is there, just in case.' And here's this one-'you have to report to me about every girl you talk to, in class and out.' This is psycho!" Personally, I agreed. I mean, Luis is usually a pretty independent guy. And suddenly he has to call at the same time every night, report about who he talks to, and kiss his kissing goodbye. "Luis," I started. "Maybe you should just lay it down for her-you're not gonna just take this, are you?" Luis sighed, exasperated. "You guys don't understand! I *have* to follow these rules, even if they *are* really stupid. I *need* Natalie, okay? Just drop it, please." No one would look him in the eye, but we all agreed to let it go. So then he changed the subject: "Hey guys, Natalie thinks she has a girl for Dwayne. One for Goldberg, too! She wants to hook you up to go on a triple date next week." That set off the cat-calls, and finally everything was back to normal. 


	15. Nothing's the Same

~*Luis's POV*~  
  
Natalie and I had to start all the way over. It wasn't like with Connie and Guy, were a breakup never lasted, they always got back together, and then everything was right where they left off. We were awkward around each other, more so than when we first started dating, and there were more uncomfortable pauses than most kids have in their discussion about the birds and the bees. She was like a whole different person now. She'd completely flip when I said something like "Hey, babe," or the like. I mean, holy cow. It was OCD or something. (A/N: that came from plainjane! You rock, my one reviewer for the last chapter!) She could actually quote her entire list of rules. In a word, it was insane.  
  
"Luis, are you coming?" I'd gone to Natalie's room (not inside, of course, because rule number 17 stated that I was not allowed in her room and vice versa) to pick her up for dinner and now we were leaving. Great, another meal filled with awkward silence at the table. No one was quite comfortable with her again the way we used to be, and Connie and Jules were still a little miffed about her dumping me in the first place.  
  
"Yeah, let's go." As we walked down the hall, it was all I could do to keep my arm to myself. I just wanted to slip it around her waist and pull her close, but, of course, I couldn't. Just for the heck of it, I tried, and she shrugged it off, giving me a look.  
  
"Look," she sighed, and I interrupted with,  
  
"I know, I know. Sorry, force of habit."  
  
"Um, we only went out for one day. How could it become a habit already?" I laughed, because her reasoning made sense.  
  
"I dunno. I just always *wanted* to put my arm around you while we were still friends, I guess, so I did it so many times in my head it just seems natural. I guess we're just meant to be together." I was confident she'd find this. . . I don't know, romantic.  
  
"Gee, that was cheesy." She gave my shoulder a playful little shove.  
  
Okay, maybe not.  
  
"I love you," I blurted. She looked sad at that, and simply smiled at me, changing the subject and chattering on about her aunt's wedding.  
  
By then, we were in the cafeteria, and she was laughing her head off at something I said. I'm not really sure it was funny enough for the amount of laughter coming from her, but she always laughed really easily. Just then, she quit laughing. Just like that. Her brow furrowed, and her eyes clouded.  
  
"Natalie?"  
  
"I just remembered. We hafta go on a triple date with Goldberg and Dwayne tomorrow. I know these two girls from dance who are *perfect* for them. Perfect."  
  
"Oh. Well, okay. . ." she caught me really off guard. I figured our first date back together would be, well, our own date. But Goldberg and Dwayne deserved love in their lives. As I looked to the table, I realized all the other Ducks had a special someone. There were the team couples, Connie and Guy and Julie and Portman, and then there was Adam and his girlfriend. Ken was dating a girl he met while skating, and Charlie was still with Linda. Averman recently had met a girl on Saturday, after the third practice for the day. He'd actually almost collapsed on her and they'd hit it off. Russ was still with a girl he met over the summer, when he was visiting Charlie. Even Fulton, who everyone seemed to think was set forever as a loner, was seeing a girl. Just now, she was sitting at the table in her short little cheerleader skirt, talking to Linda. The two did not mesh at all, not just because of the cheerleader/Linda relationship. Her name was Lindsay, and she was nice, but she was disdainful to girls who weren't athletic-therefore unable to be friends with Linda. In fact, as we sat down, a hot topic was heating up.  
  
"Well, I think the debate team should get all of that money," Linda acknowledged, like she had a say in it.  
  
"Why?" Lindsay started carelessly. "The cheerleaders organized the whole fundraiser and did all the work. No one from the debate team was even there. Why should they get it?"  
  
"Because debate is more important than cheerleading. You don't actually think you help the team, do you?" Ouch. But she really shouldn't have started with Lindsay.  
  
"Oh, and what does the debate team do? You all just sit around and argue. How does that help anyone? At least we try to keep everyone's spirits up. And," she glanced quickly at Fulton, "a lot of the spectators at games are there to see the cheerleaders, anyway. We *do* have a lot of skirt flipping in our cheers, you know." That made a loud uproar at the table.  
  
"They come to see great hockey!"  
  
"Well, you better quit the skirt-flipping then!"  
  
"Yeah right! They come to see me strip in the penalty box!"  
  
"Portman!"  
  
Natalie and I just stood there. It occurred to me as strange that Fulton could get along with a cheerleader. He wasn't exactly a Gloomy Gus, but Lindsay's perkiness was overpowering, although I'm pretty sure it wasn't the cheerleading that did it. Natalie was laughing again, and that's really when everyone noticed us.  
  
"Hi Luis! Hi Natalie!" Lindsay was already starting to give me a headache, but Natalie smiled. I thought then that she would smile if you greeted her with something like "You smell awful" or "We're going to dip you in a vat of hot wax and make a giant candle out of you."  
  
As we shoveled mass amounts of some sort of lumpy mashed potatoes down our throats, Lindsay and Linda still arguing, Natalie interrupted,  
  
"Um, listen, I hate to break up this stimulating conversation, but Goldberg, Dwayne, you guys free tomorrow night? I hooked you up for a date." I knew they wouldn't be *too* surprised, since I warned them, but they still looked up from their plates quickly.  
  
"Yes? No? I need to know to call Melissa and Hillary." Dwayne glanced at Goldberg, shrugged, scratched at his chin with his thumb, and declared,  
  
"Well, I ain't got nothin', I s'pose I go out with your little friend."  
  
"Great! Goldberg?" He sighed.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Natalie didn't seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm, but I did. Goldberg had become more and more despondent lately, and it bothered me. I couldn't get him to tell me why, and that bothered me, too.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~ I could tell Luis wasn't too happy about the way I kept moving away when he put his arm around me, but I couldn't help it. I was so insecure, so sure he didn't *really* love me, didn't even really like me at all, so afraid I was going to get hurt again. At the same time, I hated myself for throwing his arm off me, because when I looked at him, for maybe two brief seconds, he let me see the hurt I caused him. And also, I craved his touch, needed to smell his cologne, had to see our fingers intertwined. But I pushed these feelings away, bringing up my guard.  
  
It was just weird, all right? Let's leave it at that.  
  
"Natalie." It was Luis's quiet voice right in my ear. "Are you gonna take your coat off?" With a start, I realized we were inside the restaurant and the doorman was waiting for my jacket. Carelessly, I dropped my coat into his hands and didn't even look at him, shuddering a little when his hand brushed my shoulder. Luis stared at me a little while longer, then gave the guy a quick nod and small smile. I wondered what he was staring at me for, but couldn't come up with any reason. I chalked it up to him being mad at me for not allowing his arm to stay put around my shoulders. I glanced behind me to see how Dwayne and Goldberg were fairing with Melissa and Hillary. Melissa was a cute, friendly blond girl who chatted endlessly about basically anything. I'd set her up with Goldberg because they were bother outgoing and silly. Hillary was with Dwayne because they were both shy but very polite. Hillary had a serious face framed by dark, dark curls. She could be a model. Both walked with the grace of the dancers they were, elegant as crystal.  
  
And then there was me, squat and galumphing as an elephant.  
  
"So, anyway, did you know that hot dogs are made from the scraps of the pig? Not even just what doesn't go into any other food, but what won't go into dog food either. Is that sick or what? We eat stuff that even dogs won't!" Goldberg simply nodded, looking a little afraid of the huge amount of words tumbling out of Melissa's mouth. Dwayne and Hillary weren't saying anything, just sitting there in awkward silence. Several times, Dwayne drew breath like he was going to say something, but looked at Hillary and gulped instead. I jabbed Luis in the ribs, tilting my head in our accompanying couple's direction, and he chuckled at the sight of them- Goldberg looking terrified and Dwayne sitting stiff.  
  
"You guys plan on ordering?" For once, Luis was the only person comfortable. His voice was cheerful and a hint amused. I was worried that I was a horrible matchmaker, and everyone else was on a blind date, so that pretty much explained itself. By the time the food had arrived, Dwayne was deep in a conversation with Melissa about pork and the way it's slaughtered. Since they were together, you'd assume Goldberg was hitting it off with Hillary, right? Nope. Now the awkward silence was even heavier because their dates had left them. Luis slipped his arm around my waist. I shook my head at him and pushed it away, looking at how well Dwayne and Melissa were getting along.  
  
"I love you," Luis whispered in my ear. I wanted to scream "No you don't!" but I didn't. I just shook my head at him, still looking at the new couple.  
  
At least someone was happy.  
  
~*Dwayne's POV*~ I felt kind of bad for sort of ditching Hillary. But Melissa was amazing! She knew about farm work and branding and weaning and roping, but she also knew things like where the World's Biggest Potato was located, how many liters equaled an ounce, and how many gallons of water actually fit in a ten-gallon hat. To my surprise, it wasn't ten. In summary, she knew everything. It fascinated me to the extent where I could just sit and listen to her talk all day long. We made arrangements to get together the next weekend, and all week I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, Goldberg didn't have such good luck. Worse than the feeling of forgetting about Hillary was the feeling of taking Melissa away from one of my best friends.  
  
"Dwayne, don't worry about it!" He told me for the millionth time. "We weren't really clicking, anyway."  
  
"Ya sure?" I asked, wringing my hands together.  
  
"Positive. Don't worry about it. She's just not for me. Hillary, either."  
  
"Well, if ya really don't mind. . .I still do feel awful."  
  
"Quit then!" Goldberg roared at me. "I gotta get outta here. I have a makeup math test to take. Don't worry about the Melissa thing, or I swear I will tell Portman to cause you bodily harm." Without waiting for a response, he left, leaving me to email Melissa with questions I had.  
  
~*Goldberg's POV*~ I was bitter. I was *so* bitter. Everyone was hooking up. Except me. I mean, Dwayne snatched a girl from me. But I meant it when I told him I didn't care about her being my date and connecting with him. I found her unnaturally talkative and just a little frightening, so it was actually a relief when she shifted her concentration onto someone else. When I finally reached my math class, I was later than I said I would be, meaning I would earn myself a stern talking-to from Mrs. Linchard. She hated tardiness even more than she hated kids like me who goofed off and hated math completely.  
  
"Mrs. Linchard, I'm real sorry I'm late, but see, my roommate. . ." I trailed off when I realized Mrs. Linchard wasn't there. I was talking to an empty room.  
  
"Your test is on your desk." I jumped about six feet in the air, whirling around to meet the speaker. I was nose to nose with a girl. Strangely, I didn't immediately panic at the realization of there being a girl within five feet of me. I noticed a few freckles across the bridge of her nose and a whole face of creamy smooth skin, unmarked except by the freckles.  
  
"Um, thanks," I stammered, for lack of better conversation. She stuck her hand out to me, and I took it, feeling a little weird shaking hands with someone under the age of sixty.  
  
"I'm Jamie Nichols."  
  
"Greg Goldberg."  
  
"I'm a sophomore. I noticed that you're in the same math as me, but we're in different periods." Gee, great. Go ahead and point out that you're as smart if not smarter than me. "Anyway, this test is one we took last week. Were you gone?" Nosy, nosy.  
  
"Nooo, I wasn't. I'm a junior, and I flunked this test when we took it before."  
  
"Really? I got 100%." I was starting to get irritated by this girl, with her perfect skin and cute little dust of freckles and obviously colossal brain.  
  
"That's great. Wanna move so I can take my test?"  
  
"Oh, sorry." I felt a little bad for being rude. Not too much, but a little. Thanks a lot, Mom.  
  
"Why are you in here, anyway? Obviously, you're a brainiac and don't ever need to come in and get help."  
  
"I'm helping clean up the room since Mrs. Linchard fractured her leg and can't get around as well. And I do, by the way."  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Come in to get help. I get help all the time, even if I *am* brainiac. Well, I'm all done here, so I'll let you take your test in peace." Then she was gone, leaving me wondering after her. As I took the test, her face kept popping into my head, open and smiling, looking ready to talk to anyone who needed talking to.  
  
~*Jesse's POV*~ "Jesse? Come here. I'm in the pool room." My family used to be fairly poor, back in my Duck days. But then my dad had hit it big in the computer business, getting raise after raise, promotion after promotion. Now we lived in the nice part of town, in a huge house with a pool indoors. Actually, I knew what my dad wanted. It was my responsibility to clean out the pool filters, and. . . well, I didn't. I had a lot of homework, and a hockey game was on, and I just never got around to it.  
  
"Yeah, Dad?" I poked my head in the room, my nose instantly filling with the smell of chlorine and the like.  
  
"Tell me, why is the pool filter still not cleaned?"  
  
"I'm sorry, it's just, I had a lot of homework, and the game was on, and, well," I shrugged. Dad gave me a look, and I sighed.  
  
"Okay, okay, I'll clean it out and next time I won't forget about it. Promise."  
  
"Good. Get cleaning."  
  
As I cleaned, I mused silently. I missed my friends. My teammates. My Ducks. I should call Adam, I thought. Cake-eater. His nickname made a half-smile rise to my face, memories flooding my head. The second the filter was anything resembling clean, I dashed to my room and yanked the phone off it's holder. Dialing the number imbedded into my brain forever, I turned on my radio and bobbed my head to the music.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Cake-eater?"  
  
"Jesse?"  
  
"Hey man! How you guys doing?"  
  
"Pretty good. Haven't heard from you in a while." Guilt flooded through me as I thought of all the times I *could have* called and didn't.  
  
"Yeah, sorry. Listen, how about you all come see my new spread. Tell everyone to wear their swimsuits, and they can even bring their girls. Or boy, for Julie."  
  
"She's with Portman, actually. What about Connie?"  
  
"Well, I know she's with Guy. And they'd both be coming anyway. The Cat and Portman? Like no one saw that coming." He laughed.  
  
"Yeah, you got that one. When do you want us to come?"  
  
"How about Saturday. Come and stay all day."  
  
"Great!" We talked a little longer, chatting idly about this and  
that, catching up.  
  
Saturday couldn't come sooner.  
  
I didn't really like this chapter. . .at all. . .oh well. And  
something is wrong where it won't indent the paragraphs or something;  
I realize this and am uber sorry. My computer's been a little out of  
whack lately, so I apologize for any mistakes. It's been incredibly  
long since I updated. I'm so awful. There is only going to be ONE  
more chapter, people. Hear me? One. Well, unless I have another  
burst of inspiration, which happened in math for some odd reason  
yesterday. So either the next chapter will be pretty long and the  
last, or I'll break it into two. It will be their little pool party  
get together thing with Jesse, who I incorporated because I miss  
Jesse. I don't know if you caught the way Natalie won't acknowledge  
the way she feels about Luis. Mwauhaha, that's going to come into  
play soon. Review please! 


	16. The Party

~*Luis's POV*~  
When Natalie and me got back together, I kind of expected we would just pick up where we left off.  
Nope.  
She wouldn't let me kiss her. She wouldn't let me put my arm around her waist. She wouldn't hug me back, and it was touch-and-go whether I would get to hold her hand most days. I told her I loved her every day, and she never said anything. She would just get this sad sort of look on her face. I wanted to just scream at her sometimes, yell, "Why don't you believe me?! I tell you every single day! I'm not lying!"  
But I never did.  
Cut to Saturday morning. Six A.M. The phone in my dorm room is ringing off the hook, and apparently I'm the only one who can hear it. So, always the diplomat, I answered,  
"Wha?"  
"Why don't you ever call me? I'm always alone." My jaw clenched and I sat up immediately. I knew that voice.  
"Mom?"  
"Of course." She made me feel stupid for even asking. "Um, why are you calling me?" I know, it sounds pretty rude, but come on. Not only was it six in the morning, but she hadn't exactly been my biggest part of my life.  
"Is it so unusual for a mother to call her son?" Well, for this mother it was. If she were in Super Mom mode, maybe it wouldn't have been so weird. But there was something in her voice that made me think she was just the scary lady who I grew up avoiding.  
"Listen, Mom, I really wish we could talk, but I, uh, have to get ready for practice. All right? I'll talk to you later."  
"Don't hang up on me." Her voice was exactly as I remembered, the way it haunted my dreams. Dark. Scary. Scratchy.  
"I have to--"  
"Listen. I'm you mother. You don't hang up on me!" I wanted to say 'some mother' but kept it to myself.  
"I went through fifteen hours of labor with you--" I ignored the rest of her speech for about two whole minutes before realizing: duh. What could she do if I *did* hang up? Nothing! So I did. I slammed the phone down and tried to get back to sleep. Yeah, right, that's happening. I took a shower and wandered around the school before bumping into Natalie.  
"Hey!" She said brightly. I gave her this kind of weird smile. "What's the matter Luigi?"  
"Nothing." Natalie tilted her head.  
"Well, why do you look so mad?"  
"How would you know?" I was totally flipping out about my mom. I felt bad even as this was happening, because she had no idea why I was so upset.  
"Wh-. . .how would I know what?" I sighed.  
"Nothing. Never mind." Suddenly I was more tired than I ever had been, and at the same time this fatigue hit I remembered to ask Natalie about going to Jesse's party.  
"Anyway. You remember Jesse? Well, he's having a party for the Ducks and I want you to come."  
"But you just said it's for the Ducks."  
"I know, but you could come too. He said so."  
"Um. . .well, okay," she seemed hesitant. "What time?"  
"We'll get there at like noon and stay all day. Then there's a dance at his school that he wants us to go to." Not that we'll dance, because how could we dance if you won't let me put my arms around you?  
"I have dance at eleven."  
"Oh." And it wasn't like she was sad that she couldn't come, either. There was relief in her voice.  
"But I could come afterward. I'd get there by some time after one." That surprised me, because right when I told her I could tell she didn't want to come. And yet now, when she had an excuse to get out of it, she was getting back into it.  
"Really?"  
"Yeah. Just give me directions and I'll come after I shower and change and stuff."  
"Natalie. We're going in his pool, so you don't have to shower."  
"Pool? It's November!" She said incredulously. I laughed a little, more at the weird feeling inside than anything funny she'd said.  
"It's inside!" We went down to breakfast, talking about the party and how to get to Jesse's new house. I did not mention that my mom had called, and I did not mention that I had a bad, lurking feeling in the pit of my stomach.  
  
~*Jesse's POV*~  
I had everything set up just so. There were like 900 towels set out and the pool looked very inviting. Up to six feet of clear, clean water just begging for you to jump into. I was tempted to go in now, but my friends would be coming soon and I had to make sure Terry had cleaned the bathroom like I told him to. My guess was no, but hey, a guy could try.  
"Terry!" I hollered up the stairs, trying to be heard over the din of his music. "Terry!!" Still nothing. "TERRY!!!" I was red in the face from bellowing his name when I heard Guy's teasing voice,  
"Attractive, Jess."  
"Hey guys!" We caught up a little and I was introduced to their girlfriends.  
"What, the lady-killer's got no ladies?" I joked when I saw Luis was without a girl on his arm. He rolled his eyes at me.  
"As a matter of fact, she's coming late. She had dance, if you must know."  
"I didn't say I must know, you just told me. A little too fast-you sure she's real?"  
"Shut up," he said, throwing me into a headlock. Laughing, we all made our way to the poolroom, me acting as tour guide and pointing out all the great attractions of our house.  
"There's the garage."  
"There's the furnace."  
"There's the laundry room."  
"Here's the kitchen."  
"Ooh, the best place!" Goldberg interrupted. We kept walking, dragging him in our wake.  
"Here's the bathroom. It's a little messy because SOMEONE"-I yelled in the general direction of Terry- "wouldn't clean it."  
"Aaand. . .here's the pool."  
  
~*Fulton's POV*~ "Cannonball!" Portman yelled, making everyone in the pool-and the area within ten feet around it-groan. Over the past hour, he'd repeatedly cannonballed in, got out, and cannonballed back in. There was probably more water on the floor than in the pool now. What was worse was when Goldberg decided to join him about a half an hour ago.  
"Luis!" There was this shrieky voice yelling over the general bedlam that accompanied any Ducks outing. We turned to see an unhealthily skinny lady with dark hair and eyes standing there. Luis went rigid. After a second, he got out of the pool but didn't get any closer to the woman.  
"Come here and give me a hug!" Her voice wasn't warm and huggable- more like stiff and commanding. And it was very scratchy. He didn't make any sign that he'd even heard her; he just stayed at the edge of the pool.  
"Well, I've been talking to your principal. We were talking about you not coming back next year. You'll stay at home with me in Miami and go to a normal school." Everyone's jaws dropped, including Luis's.  
"What?" He said, finally finding his voice.  
"You need your mother." Her smile wasn't very motherly, though.  
"No way. I'm not staying there." Looking around, I could tell everyone else was feeling as uncomfortable as I was with this discussion happening right here, right now. Couldn't they go somewhere else? Then I felt guilty, because what if Luis wanted us there for moral support or something?  
"We can talk about it later. I just wanted to come by and tell you. I was going to tell you on the phone, but-you hung up." Then she left. No joke! She came in, dropped her bomb, and left. Luis just stood there for a second, lost in thought. When the door banged open, he jerked, startled, and slipped into the pool. At first we tittered at him before hearing the sick *crack* that was his head against the side. For a second no one moved, wondering if what we thought was happening really was. Then Natalie, who must have been the one who opened the door, screamed,  
"Someone pull him out!"  
  
Dun dun dun! I bet all of you are SO scared about what's going to happen. I know it seems kind of stupid that Luis's mom mysteriously shows up and decides to tell him he can't go to Eden Hall anymore, but come on. Work with me here. I have another chapter after this, obviously, and then I think there will be one more that's sort of a wrap up/epilogue thing. Also. . .review! I mean, I'll give you a break if, say, your house is on fire. But everyone else: no excuses! 


	17. The Dance

~*Jesse's POV*~  
We were all flipping out. Dwayne finally had the presence of mind to jump in and yank Luis out of the pool, but when he laid him on the side of the pool, Luis just kind of flopped there. Natalie, who was indeed real, was crying hysterically and clearly was not the kind of girl who handled a crisis well. Julie and Connie were trying to calm her down, but it wasn't really working because they were scared, too.  
"He's not breathing." Once again, we all froze. What could we do? But Dwayne, our Superman of the day, did not fail us. Without a second's hesitation, he started pumping Luis's chest, breathing air into his lungs and trying to get him awake. The rest of us just stood there, looking on silently. After an eternity, Luis started coughing and sputtering. He threw up chlorine water all over himself, and that was a little gross, but I was just happy he was alive. He lay back on the ground; groaning and getting his breathing back to normal. Natalie threw herself on the ground by him, clutching his hand like he'd fall back into the pool if she let go.  
"Are you okay?" She asked, still crying a little. He nodded, grasping her hand almost as tightly. After a minute or two he sat up slowly, and Natalie let go of his hand to throw her arms around his neck.  
"I was so scared," she whispered into his chest. He laughed a little and replied,  
"Hey, I'm alright. Don't cry. It's okay."  
"It's all so. . .*beautiful*!" Averman joked, fake sobbing into Goldberg's shoulder. But he was a little pale himself, making his freckles stand out a little more vividly.  
"Well. *That* was sure exciting, now wasn't it?" Charlie said, laughing one of those yay-everyone's-okay laughs he does anytime we come near certain death or bodily harm. Okay, so it's not that often, but I've heard it before. Like that time we lost Dwayne at the Mall of America. That was a little scary, I'll admit. Luis laughed at us standing in a ring gawking at him.  
"Guys, it's okay, I'm fine. Seriously." Still silence. Finally, Goldberg broke it with,  
"All that made me hungry. Jesse, do you have any food?"  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
As I was driving to Jesse's, looking at the directions Luis wrote out, squinting and trying to decipher my boyfriend's encrypted scrawl, I realized I was still scared that I'd get hurt if I really opened my heart to Luis. But then, seeing him lying on the cold, hard cement, waiting for him to breathe, I realized it was too late. I was completely in love with Luis Mendoza.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~  
I was scared in every sense of the word. I wouldn't be going swimming anytime soon, that was for sure. I heartily preferred any water activities having to do with the frozen kind from then on.  
"Natalie, it's okay. I'm not going near the pool for a good month, at least. You don't have to hang on to me that tight."  
"I'm sorry, it's just, you scared me to death!" She loosened her vice-like grip on my arm a tiny bit, but now her nails were driving into my shoulder.  
"Mmkay, now, how about we just shift your hand a little--" I moved her hand into mine instead of grabbing my arm-"there we go."  
"Sorry! Oh, I'm sorry, was I hurting you?" The look on her face was so adorable I had to laugh.  
"Quit worrying so much. Just have some fun!" I would not be having fun, though. Why would my mother want me at home? She always complained that I was a huge burden-when she wasn't ignoring me altogether. So what was the deal? I knew the Dean would be more than happy to have me out of the school, that was for sure. And my mom *was* the cruel kind of woman who would yank me home just to make me miserable. Maybe that was it? But then I'd be on her shoulders again. I couldn't make sense of it, and my brain was already overloaded, so I just shoved my mom and school and everything to the back of my mind.  
  
~*Charlie's POV*~  
After the whole near-drowning fiasco, no one really wanted to swim anymore, and we were all getting hungry, so we wound up at this McDonalds down the street from Jesse's house. Luis and Natalie went to get the drinks, and it gave us the opportunity to discuss them.  
"Okay, listen. I know Luis said for us not to meddle--" Julie started to say, leaning forward and talking in a hushed voice.  
"But you're going to anyway?" Portman interrupted.  
"Exactly. Look, she treats him like crap. He can't even hold her hand some days. It's obvious she's crazy about him, but she's acting just plain crazy. Soooo, I came up with a plan."  
"Uh-uh." I broke in, holding up my hands. "This is between Luis and Natalie." No one listened to me-they just went on whispering. "Guys. Hey!"  
"Charlie. Either help plan or shut up. Anything else and I'm rolling you into a ball and stuffing you into the dumpster out back." Now, I'm supposedly captain of this team, no? Captains are supposed to have leadership, right? Well, usually I do, but when a guy as big as Fulton makes a threat like that, you do what he says.  
"Fine. What's the plan?"  
  
~*Julie's POV*~  
I had this idea. When we went to the dance at Jesse's school, Natalie would probably not let Luis dance with her, because of her insane fear of him touching her or whatever. The thing we had to do was get them to stand in line for pictures. As soon as they got their picture, all we had to do was get the DJ to play their song. Problem: we didn't know what it was. Other problem: the DJ wasn't taking requests, as stupid as that sounds. I mean, he's at a high school dance and he's not taking requests? What was he, a monster?  
Anyway.  
I left it up to my wonderful boyfriend to find out what their song was. I plead temporary insanity on that count.  
"Hey, you're back. Awesome!" Portman said as soon as they sat down.  
"Uh, yeah, and you're still here. Great!" Luis laughed, giving Portman a funny look.  
"What's your guys' song?" Portman blurted, out of the blue in the middle of the team's discussion about the new Chicken McNuggets.  
Great. Smooth. Now everyone was just sort of staring at Portman, and he was starting to sweat a little. I covered my face with my hands. I'd already explained to him to be subtle. That they should have *no* idea what was going on. Well, they *did* have no idea. That was a plus.  
"Well, our song is I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, by Mark Chesnut but why--"  
"No reason."  
"You--"  
"No I didn't."  
"But--"  
"So Luis, do you think we should take you to the hospital? Maybe you have water in your lungs." Natalie looked terrified and clung to Luis again. I whacked Portman on the arm.  
"What did you say that for? Now you got them freaked out again."  
"I had to change the subject!"  
"Smooth move, by the way."  
"Oh shut up. How else was I supposed to ask?"  
"You shut up! I don't know. You could have made it seem like you were just interested in their *relationship* or something like that."  
"No, *you* shut up! You're the one who told *me* to do it!"  
"*You* shut up!"  
"You!"  
"You!"  
"Guys?" We looked up to see everyone staring at us and I felt how Portman must've.  
"Yes?" I asked weakly.  
"Are you almost done? Connie's gonna have a heart attack if we don't leave and get ready for the dance."  
"I will *not* have a heart attack, I'm just *saying* we should start *thinking* about getting ready because there's only *one* hour until it starts."  
"An hour?" I gasped. "We hafta go!" Us girls sprinted from that McDonalds as fast as we could-which, truth be told, wasn't very fast. Still, we *would* have made it back to Jesse's before the guys, except. . .well, we got lost. And people say guys are directionless.  
  
~*Natalie's POV*~  
We got to the dance fifteen minutes after it started. I expected it to be a little slow right when it started, but I was wrong. These kids loved dances, I guess, because there were millions of them.  
"Look! A photographer!" Lindsey pointed excitedly, her voice cutting through the sound of the dance. Next thing I knew, she grabbed my hand and yanked me over to the line. The line already went clear back to the punch table. Luis and Fulton followed. Slowly.  
"Aw, we'll be here all night." Luis sounded disappointed, which I couldn't understand. I hated slow dancing, and he knew it. But I did want to dance with him at least once.  
"We'll get a couple dances in," I reassured him, making him grin that quick smile of his.  
We waited. . .  
. . .And waited. . .  
. . .And waited some more. . .  
An hour passed, and we were almost close to the front. There were six couples in front of us, meaning about fifteen more minutes. Longer if some were getting two poses. Which, of course, they were. All six couples. And then the camera ran out of film. Twice, because the photographer couldn't get the flash to work and ended up taking twelve pictures of the floor.  
"This is ridiculous," I grumbled. By the time we got out of line, we were only going to have about twenty minutes left of the dance. If we ever got out of the line-which at that point seemed doubtful. Finally, after another forty-five minutes, it was our turn. "Smile big. Double or single?" "Single," Luis said between clenched teeth. My, he was irritated. After we *finally* got our picture done, there was going to be only three more songs-and only one would be a slow one.  
  
~*Averman's POV*~  
I don't know why Charlie gave me that job. I was in charge of getting the DJ to play the CD Jesse had hastily burned. It only had one track, so there would be no mistakes. But how would I do that? The DJ was a big, beefy guy who I swore could take on the Terminator himself. This was not going to be pretty.  
"Er, excuse me, sir, but, eh, I was wondering if you would play. . ." I trailed off because he was shaking his head.  
"No requests." He grunted, pointing to the sign bearing the same words. Wow, brains and brawn.  
"Okay, but it's really important."  
"No requests." He repeated, once again pointing to the sign.  
"Um, but--"  
"No requests." Again the finger pointed. That's when I started to get a little suspicious. Jesse did say his principal was cheap, but. . .did he not even hire a DJ and just had a really long CD? If that was the case, I could switch the CD. But how did that explain the guy sitting in the chair? I poked at his arm and felt rubber. Yeah, not real. So, using my astounding whit, I called Goldberg over.  
"Stand guard." I hissed. He gave me a funny look but complied. I had to time it carefully. First, I glanced over and saw Natalie and Luis just one couple away from getting their picture taken. Good, good. That's when the principle saw us standing around the table. Fearing his ruse was discovered, he rushed over.  
"Hey, you kids, get away. Can't you read? No requests."  
"Oh, sorry, sir. We were just talking to mister, uh. . .DJ. . ."  
"Go on. Get out." Once we were out of earshot, I whispered to Goldberg,  
"Get me Portman or Fulton." A minute later, the smaller Bash Brother was at my side.  
"What's going on?" He asked.  
"Okay. See, the DJ is fake. So you, being muscular, will pretend to be the pretend DJ and after two more songs, slip this CD in. We'll take care of Mr. What's-his-face."  
"Two songs?"  
"Two."  
"Hey!" Whoops. Maybe I shoulda been watching ole baldy over there. Didn't I tell you kids--" "Help! Help me, sir! I'm having an allergic reaction to the. . .the punch! I'm allergic!" I flopped to the ground at a spot where his back would be to Fulton. I watched as Fulton shoved the rubber guy out of the chair and sat very still. "What are you allergic to?" The principal asked in a panicked voice. Hmm, good question. "Uh. . .everything-getting-so-dark. Beginning-to-fade-away. . .help. . .help. . ." I opened an eye and quickly slammed it shut. His face was so close to mine I could see the little hairs on his chin. I remember taking a mental note to try out for the next play. Either I was really good and I'd get a part, or I'd get some acting lessons in case I needed them in times like these. Mr. Principal Guy brought me back to the matter at hand with, "I'll call the nurse!" "Uh, wait, no!" I called out, my voice getting shrieky. "I'm feeling a lot better. . ." I glanced at Fulton and he switched CDs. "Well, I'm fine now. See ya later!" I popped up and ran away.  
  
~*Luis's POV*~ (man there's been lots of POV changes!) After standing in line for almost two hours, there was three songs left of the whole dance. When we finally got out on the dance floor, it was time for the last song of the dance, and it would be slow. I didn't even know if Natalie was going to dance with me or not, especially since she went to get some punch. I noticed Averman flopping down on the ground for a little while, adding big dramatic hand movements, clutching his chest and the like. I didn't even want to know. But then the slow song started, and immediately I recognized the opening bars of 'our' song. I looked over and caught her eye, and she walked over- without a drink. Silently, I held my hand out to her and we walked out to the dance floor, crowded with couples dying to be together for the last dance. At first we just swayed to the music, not talking, avoiding eye contact, our hands barely touching and absolutely no contact anywhere else. For probably the first time, I really listened to the words. They made a lot of sense to me, especially the way I was feeling right then, but I was fairly certain they'd make a whole lot *more* sense if we were actually holding on to each other and dancing. Then she leaned into my chest, and I wrapped my arms tighter around her. Much better. "Luis," she murmured, raising her head a little so she could talk. I looked down at her and smiled a little, rubbing my fingers over her hand. I traced the burn scar she's gotten when she was ten from trying to start a fire at camp. I looked into her eyes and saw that she, too, looked happy, but something had changed. She looked. . .ready. I didn't know for *what* until she started talking. That was when I sort of knew what was coming but was almost too afraid to confront directly, even in my thoughts. "Luis. . . I know I haven't really been acting like it but," she paused, smiled, squeezed my hand, and said the three words that gave my heart lift off.  
"I love you." 


	18. Breaking The Rules

A/N: I said the last chapter would be THE last chapter before the epilogue, but I realized I had to clear a few things up before I could put up my epilogue as I've already written it. So just listen: I have Luis's mom say she's going to pull him out of school, and basically I'm too lazy and not creative enough to think of a good way to make her change her mind or something, but he's going to stay at Eden Hall, (duh, like you were really scared that he wasn't) so. . .chuck that part of the story out the window. If you just forget that part, in order for Luis to still fall in the pool, pretend he and Dwayne were playing cowboys and Luis slipped and fell. If it REALLY bothers you, pretend Bombay got involved and went all lawyer-voodoo on Luis's mom and the Dean. So here it is. The epilogue.  
  
~*Third Person POV*~  
Luis and Natalie were back together. For real this time-with kisses and hugs and I love you's and all that other mushy stuff that was so sweet you could just barf. But everyone could see that it wasn't just giddy hormones making all this fluffy fuss; they really did love each other. And that made it all somewhat tolerable.  
"Natalia. I have something special for you!" Luis panted, out of breath from running all the way up the stairs to meet her. You'd think running up and down those stairs all the time would get him in better shape (not to mention the whole athlete thing. . .), but if you thought that, you'd be wrong.  
"Ooo, what is it?" Natalie loved getting gifts. Call her shallow, but Luis *did* give great presents.  
"Well, it's a surprise, dork."  
"Hey, didn't anyone ever teach you how to treat a lady?" Natalie asked, holding her head high in a very injured manner.  
"Sure," Luis retorted, grinning devilishly. "But I thought we were talking about you!"  
"Oh, you better run, you big goon!"  
"Goon? That's it!" He chased after her, trying to tickle her. Screaming, she took off down the stairs with her boyfriend hot on her heels.  
"Luis! I don't know where we're going!" She shrieked, laughing like a lunatic on wheels.  
"Just head outside." Well, as they crossed the doors of Eden Hall, Luis caught her and tickled her for a little, then turned serious.  
"All right. I've got something real important, so listen up. You remember those rules you made?" Natalie rolled her eyes.  
"I already apologized for that. And I said they were dumb."  
"I *know* and that's why I think you'll like this."  
"Like what?" Luis pulled out his copy of the rules. It was taped back together because one of the first things they'd done after the dance was to rip those rules up. Unfolding the paper, he cleared his throat ceremoniously.  
"Rule number 42. No mismatched socks." (A/N: I know I had that one there but I don't remember. Just pretend that's it, all right?) Then he pulled up his pant leg to show her his socks-one white, one blue. Natalie laughed out loud.  
"Rule number 41. Always listen to each other. Okay, so there was this one summer where I got a marble stuck up my nose, and we went to the emergency room and we had to wait. . ." Catching his drift, Natalie plugged her ears and hummed loudly to block out his noise.  
"Number 17. Don't go into each other's rooms. (A/N: ditto to the last annoying little memo-that just goes for all of them, mostly, all right?) I already broke that rule earlier today. Of course, I wouldn't have to if you didn't take so long getting dressed and stuff," he added, jabbing her lightly with his elbow.  
"Number 22. Don't interrupt. Remember when--"  
"Mm-hmm, yeah. Listen, do you think. . ." she broke off laughing because, well, she laughs easily I guess. Then she added, "What were you gonna say?"  
"Nothing really. I was hoping you'd cut me off then." They laughed and sort of batted their eyelashes at how well they knew each other.  
"Rule number 40. . ." So they went on, breaking every ridiculous rule she had set down, until finally reaching number one.  
"Rule number one. No kissing. Now here's a rule I love to break." With matching grins, they leaned in and kissed. It was a long one, explaining the catcalls and whistles coming from the bushes.  
"Hey! Do you guys have a fetish for stalking us from the bushes?" Natalie joked.  
"Nooo," Russ started. Guy finished with,  
"But we do have a fetish for water guns!" With that, everyone on the team, including Luis, pulled out a squirt gun and shot at Natalie.  
"That's not fair! That's not fair! Unarmed!!" She screamed, taking matters into her own hands and stealing Luis's gun. Shooting back and forth, getting soaked from head to toe, everyone was happy.  
  
Well, that's all folks. Feedback rocks, guys. Review, review, review! It'll be awesome possum! 


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Mighty Ducks, Drama, Romance